How do leaders cope with times of uncertainty?

As the world is witnessing constant changes due to various conditions, including a convergence of a global pandemic, geopolitical tensions and social unrest, young global leaders were surveyed from different regions and sectors worldwide to give insights on how to better lead through times of uncertainty.

Six tips were shared by leaders to lead more effectively in uncertain times.

Embrace your humility and a spirit of learning

Jens Spahn, Member of Parliament and Germany’s Former Minister of Health, said that young leaders may at times think that they have seen it all. But then there are places, people, discussions that tell you: “Wait, there’s so much more to learn and to discover.

Challenge the data and allow for dissent

Lucy D’Arville, Partner, Bain & Company, Australia, said that as a leader, one of our most important responsibilities is to make decisions and in many situations these decisions are made under pressure. However, there are many biases contributing to the risk of making a bad assessment and insufficiently updating our pre-existing beliefs.

There are three important insights to avoid falling into the bias trap are, namely surround yourself with people who tell you that you are wrong; interrogate the data to make decisions on as complete a data-set as possible; and set-up inclusive procedures to allow all sides of an argument the space to be expressed and considered.

Play the probabilities

Leland Maschmeyer, Co-Founder, US-based Sway, explained that a common trait of leadership is decisive decision making. However, when many days feel like a chaotic soup of overwhelming information and dizzying perspective shifts stirred by an incessant overturning of hard-fought knowledge, quick and conclusive decision making is the wrong goal.

Bring together diverse stakeholders

Tolu Oni, Urban Epidemiologist, at the University of Cambridge, advised on creating affinity through intergroup contact. This conncetion requires atypical collaborations with individuals and organizations across sectors and disciplines who are not accustomed to working together.

Explore your vulnerability

Ibrahim AlMojel, CEO of Saudi Industrial Development Fund (SIDF), elaborated that allowing yourself to be vulnerable and open allows you to go deeper in understanding the challenges you face. People tend to simplify the problems they have and the frameworks they work within, but being vulnerable can allow them to go deeper into the layers of the problem and explore their role in solving them.

Zoom out to see greater forces at work

Longmei Zhang, Senior Fellow at Harvard Kennedy School and Former IMF Deputy Resident Representative for China, added that while overcoming a technical challenge demands skill, overcoming an adaptive challenge requires a change in attitude and mind. While everyone confronts unique challenges in their respective fields, these obstacles are frequently rooted in the rapid shifting geopolitical landscape.

The Harvard leadership module enables us to zoom out and view difficulties from a broader perspective, changing our focus away from day-to-day technical obstacles toward more fundamental adaptive challenges. While people can solve technical difficulties with their knowledge, adaptive change demands adjustments in their hearts and minds.

Source: World Economic Fourm, WEF