Be the Architect and Anchor: Leading Through Transformation Without a Playbook

When the playbook is unclear, leaders must be both architects of change and anchors of stability. Discover how to stay relevant, lead through uncertainty, and shape your professional identity during transformation. This episode covers: 

• The dual role of architect and anchor in leadership
• How to create certainty when the ground keeps shifting
• Questions to redefine your value in the age of AI

Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction to Career Uncertainty
• 2:22 The Reality of Leading Through Transformation
• 3:59 Being Both Architect and Anchor
• 5:42 Creating Your Path Forward
• 7:13 Self-Reflection Questions for Leaders
• 8:15 Community and Self-Care Closing

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Hey friends, I am Jill Griffin, the host of the Career Refresh podcast. This is the place where we talk about keeping your career fresh, which is everything from leadership to team dynamics, to understanding how to navigate challenge in the workplace, and that's what we're talking about today. We're leading through a time of extraordinary uncertainty adapting to exponential change, or, if you're wrestling with AI and what it means for you personally and your work, you are in the right place today because I want to take a breath and then let's dig in. All right, I want to offer something very simple and very real. It's a pause, a breath, it's taking a moment to name what's actually beneath the surface, because right now, you're not just navigating change and I know this because of the hundreds of people that I talk to on a regular basis through career coaching, through executive coaching, through team workshops what I'm doing, it's that there is so much going on. It's AI, it's the markets, it's what's going on in your local region, your national region. What is going on at the national level? It is everything everywhere, all at once, and you are leading and working through transformation. And let's call it what it is. You are working and leading through transformation without a clear prelude book and, without having a path charter, we are charting new paths right now.

Speaker 1: 1:31

So the pace of work has shifted radically from AI to automation, to adding new tools regularly to your job. It's changing how work gets done, the roles and how they contribute, how things matter and what we're talking about when we're saying that we are working in a professional environment, and this is what I'm seeing leaders trying to navigate and struggling with. Frankly, it means that you need to be both an architect and an anchor. So you're designing new ways of working. You're holding space for your own fears, your team's fears, questions, resistance, obstacles. You're managing the dynamic tensions between what's urgent versus what's essential and you're expected to deliver results. You need to manage up, you need to manage down, managing across, staying strategic, staying sane, and this is not just pressure, but this is the emotional labor. It is making sure that you have that resilience, and I can't stress this part enough that the emotional toll of helping teams and clients shift while you yourself are still shifting is real.

Speaker 1: 2:47

So you might be asking yourself a hundred times a day, or at least when you reflect at the end of the day, what happens to the value I create if all of my skills that I've spent 10 or 20 years building are now being automated. And how do I stay relevant when the ground keeps moving and sort of the goalposts? And where do I find solid ground when everything feels uncertain? And the answer is it's on an individual level, it's connection with self, it is mindset, it is creating your own clarity and it is really being in that place of presence. You need to figure out how you can be certain about the things that you can be certain about, which will anchor you, so that you can be the architect on the things that you have no idea what's coming next. And this is all coming through starting how you want to show up right. This is leadership identity, sometimes called professional brand. It is making sure you understand what is going to work for you and then using that as you navigate this path and lead teams. This is the kind of reinvention that is not just about upskilling, because there is definitely upskilling. I am talking to my engineering clients who haven't coded in a while because they're leaving teams that are getting back into engineering to making sure that they understand what teams are going to so they can give direction. This is about evolving your identity and you need to stay in the now, you need to look ahead, you need to look around, you need to look up, you need to question your own long-held beliefs. Those are your organization and thinking about how success is built.

Speaker 1: 4:36

So I'm reframing this to you because I want to have a conversation that this is real. I'm not here today to tell you I have answers. What I am here today to tell you is that I have a path forward through creating some certainty and mindfulness yourself. And this is about what does it mean to lead? Now you get to choose what that means for you. What does it mean to be in a professional role when work roles, relevance, are being rewritten in real time? But I want you to remember that the pause or the relief happens after the fog, after the discomfort and after answering the various questions that are in you. So, yes, again, I'm acknowledging you are in it, I am in it.

Speaker 1: 5:21

I'm also figuring out how to continue to lead clients through this level of continue and vast uncertainty. So I want you to give yourself some space and I want you to start here with reflecting. What am I pretending not to feel in this massive transition? In this massive transition, what do I need to do more of, be more of to lead with clarity for myself and therefore creating clarity for others. Again, that's the anchor and the architect, so that you can move forward right now with the challenges that are on your plate today or this week. And who do I want to become through this, not just after this. Who am I becoming now?

Speaker 1: 6:10

And often we think about the end goal and, yeah, there's some beautiful reflection there when you've achieved the goal, but the work is also deciding. Who do I want to show up as as a leader as we're going through this? I mean, I am in conversations regularly with leaders that are saying that, based on the decisions that they may or may not make, do they want to work or live in a world that they are creating? So how are they going to use their power and influence wisely? How are they slowing down, setting reasonable targets, being intentional, understanding that there is a lot of noise out there, understanding that you may need to be playing zone defense, but you also need to walk. You need to move your body, you need to have space and grace as things reveal what's next right. This is requiring you to think through these things. You don't have to carry this alone. There are resources and tools. I'll put some in the show notes.

Speaker 1: 7:10

You can also think about how do you create community? Maybe it's within your work, or maybe it's within your local community, because right now, with so much uncertainty, finding ways that we can go back to the core values of community and collaboration and love and friendship and really helping out other people and ways to do that will remind us to create the world that we want to live in. It's showing up and making sure that you're showing up for yourself first. That old put the oxygen mask on yourself first so that you can show up for others. So again, I see you, I get you.

Speaker 1: 7:46

It is my mission to serve you and keep leading with attention, even when the path is shifting. Be the architect and be the anchor and balance the now with what's next. You're not behind. You are becoming. Be intentional and always, always, always. My friends, be kind. All right, friends, as always, you know I love to hear from you. You can email me at hello at jillgriffincoachingcom, I will get your questions answered. If you have topics you want to hear about, also email me and hit me up and we will get the research. We will get those guests on the show. All right, friends, sending you so much support and I'll see you next time.