Uncertainty is inevitable. Whether it comes to relatively small topics, such as today’s transportation and weather, or potential issues that may change lives and employment, coping with the unknown future is part of our daily lives. At the same time, we live in times of extreme uncertainty, with many changes in the landscape of higher education and the economic instability.
If you hold a leadership position (whether it means leading an academic unit or a leadership research lab or classroom), you may feel not only managing uncertainty for yourself, but also the weight of the person you lead in an uncertain terrain. In doing so, you may encounter leaders looking for sure information about unanswered questions.
How do you lead in these situations? I firmly believe that leaders can always do something even if it is not the specific thing people want. In this case, I suggest that even if we can’t provide answers or predict future implementations, we can provide something that is likely to be more valuable, namely the skills needed to manage uncertainty.
Facing uncertainty is a complex and nuanced process, empowering others is a complex and nuanced process, and your approach will vary based on each person and background. However, some steps that may help are:
- Acknowledge the challenge. As a leader, you may feel the urge to avoid talking about unsolvable problems. However, this doesn’t make the person you lead less real. First verify the dangers of individuals, whether it is work stability, research funding or graduate school admission. You can also acknowledge the broader challenges posed by uncertainty and how it is taxed psychologically and emotionally. Acknowledging challenges does not mean that you are going to blame for their existence, or that you do not assert that the rights of individuals and the common values of institutions are safeguarded. However, openly recognizing the reality of the situation can go a long way toward building trust with the people you lead.
- Reflect on the resilience of the past. Everyone you lead is a unique person who manages adversity in their own way. You can offer some general strategies such as focusing on goals and impact and leaning towards the community to seek support. More helpful is empowering everyone by encouraging everyone to reflect on the challenges they faced in the past and thinking about what strategies and support enable them to manage these situations. Helping someone remember that they have overcome difficult situations in the past provide guidance on how they can do it again and build their confidence.
- Focus on what you can control. One of the many things about uncertainty is our sense of self-determination. Natural reactions are to focus the biggest on areas where we control the least amount. Effectively managing uncertainty or adversity may require us to do the opposite. It is important that our areas of control include our work and how to do it. You can provide individuals with guidance on how to make plans and take actions within their control, while also reinforcing that they are the ones who control values and ethics that will guide the selection and implementation of these actions.
- Create space for self-care. Self-care is more critical than ever when the challenges we face can extend over weeks, months, or even years. Just as you can help everyone reflect on their unique coping strategies, you can also help them develop a plan for self-care activities that will bring the greatest benefits to their mental health. This may include spending time attending events with people they care about. This may also mean checking out a certain amount of time, playing video games or playing shows whose only value is entertainment.
Depending on your leadership role, managing your current responsibilities may already feel overwhelmed. It seems impossible to increase the task of helping others manage uncertainty. You may not be ready to browse topics where you have not received a specific training. These are very real challenges, but they don’t have to stop you from taking action.
The principles outlined above can be woven into daily meetings and email discussions, thus making a profit without increasing the workload. You can also rely on existing resources and expertise to spread useful ideas in a time-consuming way. For example, consider sharing articles or podcasts with the team about resilience, uncertainty, or self-care and putting aside for 15 to 20 minutes at the next meeting to discuss advice from experts. Or, to dig deeper, you can choose a book and work together in each chapter, a monthly sack lunch for each chapter.
As a leader, there are always things you can do. Even if you don’t have all the answers, you can guide yourself and others through uncertainty, making a strong positive impact.
