Something shifted. You can feel it. You just can't name it yet.
Stand Tall & Own It is for women in the second half of life who are high-functioning on the outside and quietly disoriented on the inside. You built your life inside systems you trusted completely — until you realized you couldn't tell what was actually yours from what you'd just learned to navigate well.
Host Andrea Johnson doesn't offer formulas. She offers honest thinking, sharp observation, and the kind of conversation that makes you pull over and sit in your driveway.
Confidence in leadership doesn’t come from controlling every variable—it comes from knowing how to lead when everything feels out of control. Agile leaders don’t just pivot—they stay grounded in their values and lead with steady presence, clarity, and courage.
5 WAYS TO APPLY THIS
Recognize agility as a leadership posture, not a panic move Use your Core Values as anchors in uncertain situations
Communicate clearly and consistently—even when you don’t have all the answers
Practice presence by checking your energy and showing up steady
Cultivate Intentional Optimism to lead with vision and courage in chaos
3 QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURSELF
Where do I tend to freeze or over-control when things feel uncertain?
Which of my Core Values can help guide my next decision or conversation?
What kind of leadership presence do I want to model for my team in the unknown?
You're listening to Stand Tall and Own It, a podcast for high-performing female leaders who are ready to make an impact by discovering the safety that comes from understanding their own value and exercising their own authority. I'm your host, Andrea Johnson, and I'm here to tell you it is time to just truly be you, my strong friend. It's time to stand tall and own it. Hi there, and welcome back to another episode of Stand Hall and Own It, the podcast where we equip purpose-driven women to lead with authenticity and impact. I'm your host, Andrea Johnson, the intentional optimist, and today we're walking into the unknown. Because you know what? In reality, leadership rarely goes according to plan. Clients bail, projects fall apart, employees quit. Sometimes they just walk out, budgets shift. Heck, the entire culture or political climate can suddenly become unstable. It doesn't matter how much you prepare, uncertainty is a constant companion in leadership. But here's the truth confidence in leadership isn't about controlling every variable. I wish that it was. It's about leading well anyway. Zig Ziggler famously said, what you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals. Did you catch that? What you get by achieving your goals, what you get, is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals. One of the most transformative shifts that you can experience as a leader is learning to be agile. At first, it feels like something you do, a set of actions, decisions, pivots, but over time, as you lead through uncertainty again and again, it becomes something that you are. Agility becomes a mindset, a posture, a way of showing up in the world. You don't just pivot, you lead with presence in the pivot. You don't just react, you respond with intentionality and purpose. That's the kind of leadership that builds trust, creates momentum, and sustains impact over the long haul. And in the process, you grow into the kind of leader that others want to follow. Because you don't panic when things go sideways. You stay steady because you know who you are, what you value, what your core values are, where you're headed. So today we're talking about how to lead with confidence in the midst of all the unknowns. We're going to talk about how to stay grounded, clear-headed, and action-oriented, even when everything else feels like it's totally up in the air. All right, let's get into it. If you've led for any length of time at all, whether a team, a company, or even your own household, you've already discovered this truth. The plan is the starting point. And let's be real, sometimes it's not even a very good one. Because leadership isn't about following a rigid map. It's about knowing how to move when the path changes or even disappears altogether. Agile leadership isn't frantic or erratic. It's not about changing directions every five minutes, hoping that something works. That's not agility. That's panic, chaos. True agility is intentional. It's clear-eyed. It's grounded in the ability to assess, shift, and act without compromising your integrity or vision. Agility is the opposite of rigidity. It is also the antidote to fear. It allows you to say, you know, I may not have all the answers, but I have enough information to move forward. I don't need certainty. I need clarity for the next right step. That's a huge shift. Because when you're leading in the unknown, waiting until you feel completely confident, that's a trap. It's a delay tactic disguised as wisdom. Now, I had a client going through this exact same thing. Not a product launch or one big crisis, but a layered challenge that built slowly, then suddenly erupted into something bigger. She managed a team of about 10 employees, half interfaced with clients and the other half with internal service providers. And like most teams, of course, they were full of smart, driven individuals with 10 different personalities, 10 different ideas of the perfect communication process. The tension between the two halves of the team was real, and communication, it was always under scrutiny from every side. Then, with very little notice, the organization announced a total overhaul of their telecom systems and technology. I mean, we're talking every tool they used to collect information from clients, share it across the team, and then deliver it to all the internal departments, gone, replaced. And her team would be the first to transition. Doesn't that sound fun? It was a recipe for panic. But she didn't panic. She leaned into her core values, and instead of pushing for quick compliance or falling back into old control patterns, she led with collaboration. She challenged her team to be the go-to resource for the rest of the organization. Not just the first to adapt, but the first to model how it could be done. And you know what happened? Morale improved. It completely bounced back. Team members started helping each other instead of arguing over whose system was best. They turned a dramatic high-stakes change into a process they could own together. That's agile leadership. It's not about knowing everything. It's about choosing how you'll lead when the rules change, the tools shift, or the path disappears entirely. Agility gives you movement, but movement without direction? Chaos. Let's be clear. Core values, like my client leaned into, aren't just branding buzzwords or team building fluff. They're your real-world guideposts when things get murky. They might not solve the problem for you, but they help you show up in a way that honors what you matter most or what matters to you most. When you're leading in uncertainty, especially when things are messy, tense, or even emotionally charged, you need a foundation that keeps you from spiraling so that you can keep everyone else from spiraling. So let's talk about how to use your core values to lead with clarity even in chaos. Here are four practical ways to do it. First, filter your decisions through your core values. You can ask yourself things like, does this choice reflect who I am and what I stand for? In the case of my client, she was concerned that she was going to have to act or lead in a way that would not do that. So she got real with herself and asked, what would it take for me to feel like I showed up in an authentic way and helped my team? It doesn't have to be perfect, remember? It just has to be consistent. And that's what she did. She even put a sign above her workstation that read, Collaboration over competition. Your values act like a compass. You can recalibrate when things go off course anytime you like. Number two, you can use your core values to communicate clearly. In moments of uncertainty, people crave clarity. Bottom line, most people crave clarity most of the time. Your core values give you language to explain why you're making a change, how you'll handle the disruption, and what matters most as you move forward. When you lead with transparency like that, that's grounded in values like honesty, generosity, or service, you build trust, even when the message can be hard. Number three, model your core values, especially under pressure. When stress hits, that's when your values either shine or crack. This is how you know whether or not you're honoring them. Do you still treat people with kindness when you're pressed for time? Do you stay open to collaboration when your instinct is to take back control? Again, you don't have to be perfect. You also don't have to change your personality, but modeling a core value like service or collaboration takes time and consistency. People are watching you. Not for perfection, but for consistency. And number four, let your core values steady your mindset. This one's less visible, but it's just as important. Core values help you manage your internal leadership posture. Remember, the first person you lead is yourself. So if your values include things like curiosity, hope, or courage, lean into them. Use them to shift your self-talk. If your core values are more process-oriented, like responsibility, efficiency, or precision, lean into them. Let them inform the way you tackle the challenge. Remind yourself that you can navigate this. You have before, and your values are a source of strength, not just strategy. And you know what? Here's another point. Here's something else. We're going to tie it directly into intentional optimism. Pair your core values with a posture of intentional optimism. Agility and resilience require a hopeful mindset, not delusion, but vision. When you stay rooted in what you believe and intentionally choose to see possibility, girl, you unlock creativity. You inspire action and you give others permission to do the same. That's what intentional optimism looks like in motion. Not ignoring the chaos, but facing it with eyes wide open and a steady hand on the wheel. So no matter what kind of chaos shows up, a surprise resignation, a last-minute tech overhaul, a global or cultural shift that throws everything in your world off balance. Your core values keep you grounded and your optimistic mindset keeps you moving. And that, my friend, is the sweet spot of confident leadership. Alright, we've talked about movement and we've talked about anchors. Now let's talk about presence. Because in uncertain times, your presence as a leader becomes your most powerful tool. Let's be honest, your team doesn't need you to have all the answers. They're probably smart people. They will come up with some of them on their own. They need you to be present, to be steady, to be clear, to show up with integrity, compassion, and confidence, even when everything around you feels shaky. That's what I call leadership presence. It's not about pretending to be unfazed or pushing through with a fake smile. Leadership presence isn't performance, it's posture. It's how you carry your authority with humility. It's how you stay honest without completely unraveling. It's how you create safety and clarity when no one else knows what's coming next. This is where the tenets of intentional optimism become a practical superpower. Because when you're tired, discouraged, or unsure, optimism reminds you that there is a next step. And when it's intentional, it's not wishful thinking. It's grounded in reality and rooted in vision. Let me say that again. Intentional optimism is not, and never has been, denial. It's choosing to see what's possible while acknowledging what's hard. It's standing in the tension of, man, I just do not know how this is gonna play out. And you know, I still know what kind of leader I want to be in this moment. That's presence. So how do you maintain that kind of grounded presence and uncertainty? Let me offer you a few practical strategies. First, check your energy before you speak. When you walk into a meeting or open your Zoom camera, ask yourself, what am I carrying in with me? Am I calm, anxious, frantic, focused? Your presence sets the tone before you ever say a word. And if you need a reset, go full Wonder Woman, right? I mean, yeah, I mean this literally. Step into the bathroom, plant your feet, put your hands on your hips, chin up, shoulders back, and take a nice deep breath. This kind of power pose might feel silly, but it taps into your body's natural confidence signals. You're not faking it, you're activating it, you're turning it on. Number two, name what's real. But don't stop there. Acknowledge the uncertainty. Say what's hard. Just be honest. If you caught last week's episode on resilience, you'll remember naming things builds strength. Pretending everything's fine doesn't make you strong. Facing what's real does. So don't bypass the hard stuff. Call it what it is. But then offer direction, offer reassurance, offer purpose. People don't just need a play-by-play. They can they can find a play-by-play anywhere. They need a reason to keep going, and you can offer that to them. Number three, let your vision lead the room. In the absence of certainty, vision gives people something to rally around. You don't need a turn-by-turn itinerary, you need a clear destination. You might not know how many bumps, potholes, or detours are ahead, but if you keep your eyes on that point on the horizon, you'll keep moving forward. Because here's the thing: people can handle a bumpy road if they trust that you know where you're going. It's not, this is exactly what will happen, right? It's, hey, this is where we're headed, and here's how we'll walk through this together. Number four, practice calm consistency. This is one of the most underrated leadership skills, and yet it's the one that makes so much difference when things are in flux. When everything feels shaky, the leader who keeps showing up, steady, calm, without emotional whiplash, builds deep trust. Not because everything's perfect, but because you don't disappear. You don't overreact. You stay grounded even when things are chaotic. It's like driving in the fog. You might not see the whole road ahead, but if your hands stay steady on the wheel, people trust that you'll get them through it. Even if your team doesn't always say it, they feel your consistency. And that sense of security is invaluable. I'm just gonna say it for real. This kind of presence, it really is earned. It's not something that you just are born with. It's cultivated. You become this kind of leader by walking through the unknown, not around it. You earn your steady by showing up scared, uncertain, tired, and still choosing to lead with integrity and intention. So if you're in that space right now where the plan's gone kind of out the window, the forecast is cloudy, and your people are watching, you're not failing. You're growing. You're becoming the kind of leader who inspires trust. Not because you have all the answers, but because you lead with clarity, compassion, and courage when it counts the most. Leading through uncertainty isn't about waiting until the fog clears. It's about choosing to move forward anyway, with clarity, intention, and a posture that says, I know who I am and I know how I want to show up. You don't have to have all the answers, but when you lead with agility, anchor yourself in your core values and practice calm, confident presence. You create trust, momentum, and like we talked about last week, resilience. That's what leadership in the unknown really looks like. Here's the good news. These aren't one-time decisions, they're skills, which means they can be learned, developed, and strengthened over time. In fact, that's exactly what we're going to talk about next week. We'll look at how to develop your leadership skills for the long term, from emotional intelligence to decision making and adaptability, and how to stay committed to your personal professional growth as a leader. Because confidence doesn't just show up when you need it, it's built. And you, my friend, are doing it. So take that deep breath, choose your next best step, and remember, the world needs only what you can bring. And hey, if today's episode hit home and you're ready to explore what it looks like to lead from your core values, the Core Values Coaching Program might be exactly what you need. It's a personalized blend of my digital course and one-on-one coaching designed to help you fully integrate your values into how you lead, live, and make decisions. Spots are still open in the beta round, so if you're curious, head to the link in the show notes or reach out. I'd love to connect. You can DM me on Instagram or LinkedIn at the Intentional Optimist, or email me directly at Andrea at the intentionaloptimist.com. And if this show is speaking your language, make sure you show up and you follow wherever you listen, subscribe over on YouTube for weekly episodes. Let's keep building leadership that actually looks like you. Keep your eyes on the horizon, your values at your core, and your presence steady. Until next time.
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