As a leader, you’re charged with making decisions. In order to make those decisions, you need to gather all the good information you can. Sometimes, though, the information you need isn’t available when you need it (or even at all), which means you’re faced with an extra challenge: taking action in the middle of ambiguity. Shifting your mindset and approach so that you are able and willing to move forward even when you don’t have all the answers can make you a better leader. My top ten tips for leading in ambiguity will help you get started!
Uncertainty is a permanent part of the leadership landscape. It never goes away.
—Andy Stanley
If you’re a leader, you already know: clarity is a luxury. More often, you’re making decisions with half the facts, shifting conditions, and outcomes you can’t fully predict. That’s always been true—but today’s pace of change means ambiguity isn’t the exception, it’s the rule. The real challenge? Leading anyway—and bringing your team with you. Read on for my top 10 tips for leading in ambiguity.
Why Ambiguity Is Hard
No one likes uncertainty.
—Steve Easterbrook
Today’s leaders don’t need to have all the answers. But they do need to be able to guide their teams confidently when the answers are still being figured out. Finding that confidence amid uncertainty, however, is often easier said than done.
Ambiguity is stressful for anyone under any circumstances, but the stress levels rise when the stakes are higher. Leaders are in the challenging position of having to come to their own terms with ambiguity at the same time they are trying to help others deal with it.
For that reason, leaders often feel compelled to wait until they know exactly what’s what before they take action. Because they don’t want to operate with inadequate (or wrong) information, they frequently believe that the best way to position their teams for success is to wait until all the pieces are in place before moving forward.
However, there are at least two big problems with that approach. Obviously, it stalls progress. Things move very slowly (and can sometimes even grind to a complete halt!) when fear of uncertainty shakes a leader’s confidence.
At the same time, that lack of confidence is readily apparent to the rest of the team. If they see that you don’t trust yourself enough to lead, how can you expect them to trust you?
How to Change Your Mindset
If there's one thing that's certain in business, it's uncertainty.
—Stephen Covey
If you find that uncertainty is holding you back, the best way to jumpstart your leadership approach is to find a way to make peace with that ambiguity or better yet, even embrace it. In short, you need to shift your mindset from “knowing” to “navigating.”
There’s a common assumption that leaders are people who know exactly where to go. The fact is, though, that the best leaders are actually people who can chart their course while they’re in motion. They don’t map out the entire path in advance. Instead, they have a destination in mind (for example, a desired project outcome or some measurable progress toward an organizational goal) and constantly make course corrections as new data comes in and as outside forces try to influence them.
When you stop telling yourself “I need to have all the answers” and instead adopt “I will find clarity where I can and adapt as I go” as your mantra, you’ll find this flexibility to be tremendously liberating. By actively rejecting the need for absolute certainty, you free yourself from what’s called the “ambiguity effect”—a state of mind that makes you more likely to avoid options that have an element of uncertainty. This shift opens you up to new possibilities that a rigid outlook might prevent you from even seeing, must less pursuing.
Top 10 Tips for Leading in Ambiguity
It's a skill to navigate uncertainty.
—Monty Williams
In general, leading in uncertain times means guiding your team forward when you don’t have all the answers, when forces you can’t control constantly reshape your path, and when sometimes you aren’t even sure what your destination is. Obviously, adopting the right mindset is critical. But there are other specific strategies that can help you navigate ambiguity with your team.
- Don’t Hide It
Your employees aren’t living under a rock. They can see for themselves that markets are volatile and business plans are up in the air. Rather than try to pretend that everything is just peachy keen, be honest with your team and acknowledge the uncertainty. At the same time, though, also be sure to communicate that you are ready to lead them through it: “This is what we know. This is what we don’t know. And here is how we will move forward together.”
By being transparent about your flexible approach, you build trust with your team. When they see that you’re ready to roll with whatever comes your way, they’ll feel that they, too, can loosen their own grips on rigid mindsets. Being encouraged to embrace ambiguity themselves can help your team members be more creative and innovative.
- Hold on to Core Values and Priorities
Reaffirm the ideals, practices, and goals that are key to your organization. Reminding everyone of these nonnegotiable certainties can keep their focus steady—and prevent morale from cratering.
- Make Decisions in Small, Reversible Steps
When you’re not 100 percent sure of where you're going, tread carefully and avoid all-or-nothing choices that can have disastrous consequences if things end up going in a totally unanticipated direction. Each time you’re ready to advance, do as much research as you can to check that you’re working with the best and most current information available at that moment. Then take a small step forward—and be ready to backtrack and change direction if new data comes in. Remember, backtracking isn’t a mistake – it’s a change in direction based on new information.
- Overcommunicate
I’ve talked repeatedly about why the ability to communicate clearly is key to effective leadership. That is doubly true during times of unease: when people are feeling uncertain and uncomfortable, those silences are more likely to be filled with gossip, worry, fear, and anger.
Make a point to keep your team informed about new data points that can affect your project. Even if all you can tell them is “We’re still waiting on X,” you can still follow that up with reassurances about the team’s progress (“...but here’s what we’re doing in the meantime”).
- Empower Problem Solving
Give your teams decision-making power (within clearly defined parameters) so they are ready to take action as soon as new information comes in. Letting them know that you have confidence in them helps boost their own confidence in themselves, which in turn makes them better able to meet the challenges brought on by uncertainty.
- Prepare for Multiple Outcomes
Brainstorm with your team to sketch out multiple scenarios (best case, worst case, and most likely to happen) and how to respond to them. Having ready plans on hand can ease anxiety and speed action when circumstances and priorities shift.
- Focus on the Next Right Step
When the big picture is still out of focus and hard to read, zoom in on what you can see clearly right now. Identifying what can be done today lets you maintain momentum on your forward progress, even if you don’t yet know what next week (or even tomorrow) looks like.
- Encourage Curiosity over Fear
Don’t focus on “What if this goes wrong?” Instead, model for your team an approach that asks “What can we learn here?” Showing them how to regard unknowns as opportunities can help them be more capable of handling uncertainty.
- Guard Against Decision Fatigue
Because ambiguity requires you to constantly adjust course in response to changing information and influences, you may find yourself facing a steady stream of small choices. Protect your energy by delegating low-impact decisions and keeping your focus on the big levers.
- Celebrate Adaptability, Not Just Outcomes
Recognize and reward flexibility and creative problem solving even before the final results are in. When a team member performs well (and remains calm) in these especially challenging circumstances, acknowledge that achievement!
Final Thoughts
What I've found is that every time you have that uncertainty, if you face it, walk through it, you grow as an individual and gain confidence.
—Kim Reynolds
We’re likely to be living with widespread uncertainty for a while, so you (and your team) need to be ready to handle it. As a leader, you’re tasked with guiding your team through whatever comes your way, even when you don’t know exactly what’s coming.
Through your leadership, not only do you actively direct other people, but you also model flexibility and resilience for them. This helps them cultivate those abilities in themselves and makes them more confident and more capable team members, well positioned to pounce on opportunities that other people—who are waiting for conditions to be “perfect”—might overlook.
No one expects you to have all the answers. But your employees do expect (and need) you to be present and competent in the face of ambiguity. With transparency, communication, flexibility, and trust, you can lead your employees—one step at a time—through whatever uncertainty comes your way!
