Leading in Uncertainty

Great leaders and innovators all share a single, overlooked quality: the ability to lead others through uncertainty, whether that be overcoming the fear of doing something new or facing an unexpected setback with resilience. There are four key things to do.

Reframe the uncertainty from something frightening to the source of possibility, for example, by recalling the frontier is where you will do your best work
Prime, or prepare for uncertainty, for example by creating uncertainty balancers that provide certainty to yourself and your team
Do—take action—but do so by experimenting your way to success, for example, by breaking down a larger uncertainty into a series of small steps
Sustain yourself and your team through surprises and setbacks, for example, by looking at the setback as temporary, local, and impersonal.