Leadership Horizons

The Leadership Paradox: How Ambiguity Forges Exceptional Leaders

• Lois Burton • Episode 22

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Feeling like you're leading through fog so thick you can't see your hand in front of your face? You're far from alone. The most pressing leadership challenge today isn't the absence of clarity—it's learning how to navigate effectively when the path forward isn't obvious.

Drawing from years of executive coaching experience, I share why ambiguity isn't the enemy of leadership but rather where exceptional leaders are forged. The truth that many miss? Your team's confidence during uncertain times doesn't come from you having all the answers—it comes from how you show up when you don't have them.

Discover five proven strategies that transform uncertainty from a threat to an opportunity. Learn the art of transparent communication without oversharing, create psychological safety when anxiety is high, and focus team energy on what you can influence rather than what you can't control. I'll share real examples from my coaching practice, including how a manufacturing director's weekly horizon briefings built team confidence and how a retail leadership team used "control maps" during the pandemic to transform anxiety into focused action.

Perhaps most importantly, understand how to become that steady presence your team desperately needs when everything feels unstable. As one executive I coach brilliantly puts it, leadership in ambiguity is about "being as awesome as the situation permits." It's not about having a roadmap—it's about having a compass of values and purpose that guides you when the map disappears.

Whether you're navigating market disruption, organizational change, or unprecedented challenges, these practical approaches will help you lead with confidence and turn ambiguity into your greatest catalyst for innovation. Connect with me on LinkedIn or visit loisburtononline.com to continue the conversation and access upcoming free resources on leading through uncertainty.

Leadership Horizons - Helping You Lead Beyond Boundaries

Speaker 1:

Hello and welcome back to Leadership Horizons. I'm Lois Burton and if you're new here, welcome to our community of leaders who are committed to transforming challenges into opportunities for growth. Today we're diving deep into one of the most critical leadership challenges of this time, leading through ambiguity. This topic is very close to my heart because over my years of coaching senior executives and leadership teams, I've seen firsthand how ambiguity can either paralyze organizations or become their greatest catalyst for innovation. Let me start with a story. Just last month, I was working with a director who told me Lois, I feel like I'm leading my team through fog so thick I can't see my own hand in front of my face. Sound familiar. I've heard variations of this sentiment so many times, especially in the last few years, and in my coaching at the moment with both individuals and teams. This topic is coming up time and time and time again Because we live in ambiguous times and the answers are not right in front of us, so we have to learn to navigate it. So here's what I've learned Ambiguity isn't the enemy of leadership. It's actually where great leaders are forged. But here's the catch your team's confidence in uncertain times doesn't come from you having all the answers. It comes from how you show up when you don't have them. So let's explore five proven strategies.

Speaker 1:

Strategy one mastering the art of transparent communication. When the path forward isn't clear, your team needs to hear from you more, not less. We've spoken about this before that a vacuum is actually the place where rumors can proliferate and where uncertainty can grow and anxiety can grow. So making sure that people don't have a communication vacuum is vital. But here's the key distinction that I talk to my coaches about. Transparency doesn't mean sharing every doubt or fear. It means being honest about what you know, what you don't know and what you're doing about it. I've been working with a manufacturing director and they're going through a major reshuffle and some industry disruption. Instead of pretending he's got all the answers, he has started weekly horizon briefings where he's sharing three things what information they have, what they're monitoring and what decisions they're preparing to make. His team's confidence is actually growing because they feel included and they're able to contribute to that navigation process rather than feeling that they're just passengers.

Speaker 1:

Strategy two creating psychological safety and uncertainty. Again, I've spoken about psychological safety a couple of times and I'm working with two or three teams at the moment and again this topic comes up all the time. How can we feel psychologically safe? And in ambiguity and in uncertain times that psychological safety automatically decreases, so you have to work harder to create it. So it's where thinking about emotional intelligence and positive psychology becomes crucial. When teams feel safe to express concerns, ask questions and even challenge assumptions, they become your greatest asset in navigating ambiguity. In my team coaching work, I've seen the teams who thrive in uncertainty are those where the leaders have created what I call a failure safe zone, or what's referred to as the zone of uncomfortable debate Uncomfortable but safe. So spaces where team members can voice half-formed ideas, express concerns without judgment and collaborate on solutions without fear of being wrong.

Speaker 1:

The third strategy is focus on what you can control and what you can influence. This is a technique I've used many, many times in my work on organizational transformation. When everything feels uncertain, helping your team to identify what is inside and outside their control and influence is very important. Asking the question about what can we control, what can we influence and what must we either simply monitor or accept helps people to focus their energy in the right place. If people are focusing on things that they can't control or they have no influence over, then. That drains energy and it drains confidence. So bringing people back to what can we control and what can we influence is really, really important. One of my um, one of my coaches and I hope she won't mind me um quoting her she talks to her team about being as awesome as the situation permits, um, and I think that's a great phrase because, again, it brings people back to focusing on what they can control and what they can influence, and what they have to accept in the external situation and what they might need to monitor.

Speaker 1:

I worked with a retail leadership team during the pandemic, who were, like many others, completely overwhelmed pandemic, who were, like many others, completely overwhelmed. We created what we called control maps visual representations of their spheres of influence and control. This simple tool transformed their energy from anxiety about the uncontrollable to focus action on what they could actually impact. Strategy four become a beacon of calm confidence. This is perhaps the most challenging but most crucial strategy. Your team takes their emotional cues from you. If you're projecting anxiety and uncertainty, that becomes contagious. But if you project what I call calm confidence not false certainty, but steady presence, your team will mirror that energy. In my coaching, I help leaders to develop this inner steadiness. It's not about suppressing your concerns. It's about processing them in appropriate forums, with your coach, your mentor, your peer group or your line manager, so you can show up to your team as the steady presence that they need.

Speaker 1:

Strategy five turn ambiguity into an innovation opportunity. The most successful leaders I've worked with have learned to reframe ambiguity from a threat to an opportunity. It sounds a bit cheesy, but it really is the most powerful thing you can do, and I've been talking to a group of leaders recently about this very thing. When the traditional path isn't clear, it's often because a new path is emerging. I coached a tech executive in higher education who was facing sector disruption, as everyone in higher education is. Who was facing sector disruption, as everyone in higher education is. Instead of seeing the uncertainty as a crisis, we reframed it as their chance to lead innovation in their sector. They started monthly future sensing sessions with their team where they explored emerging trends and potential opportunities. This small shift in perspective transformed their team from reactive to proactive, from anxious to excited.

Speaker 1:

Personally, early in my career, I faced my own moments of profound ambiguity. I was transitioning from the corporate world into consultancy and I remember feeling like I was stepping into complete darkness. But that uncertainty forced me to dig deep, to trust my values of integrity and courage and to have faith in my ability to serve others. And every time I've faced moments of profound ambiguity since, which feels like a lot, and rightly so. That's where I've gone. I've gone back to what are my values, what's my purpose, what can I actually do and what can I have confidence in? And that experience taught me that leading through ambiguity isn't about having a roadmap. It's about having a compass. Your values, your purpose and your commitment to your team's growth and your ultimate organizational success become your true north when the path isn't clear.

Speaker 1:

So here's what I want you to take away from today's episode. First, embrace transparency without oversharing. Share what you know, acknowledge what you don't and communicate your commitment to navigating forward together. Secondly, create psychological safety. Make it safe for your team to express concerns and contribute ideas. Third, focus energy on what you can control and influence rather than what you can't. Fourthly, become that beacon of calm confidence your team needs. And finally, reframe ambiguity as an innovation opportunity rather than a threat. Remember again, your team doesn't need you to have all the answers. They need you to be the leader who can hold steady in the storm while helping them navigate toward calmer waters.

Speaker 1:

If today's episode resonated with you, I'd love to hear about your own experiences leading through ambiguity. I'm shortly going to be creating a free resource on this and I'll tell you when that's ready, but do connect with me on LinkedIn or visit my website, loisburtononlinecom. Next week, we'll be returning to resilience and doing a deep dive into how leaders can manage their energy, which is the first crucial pillar of resilience. Until then, keep pushing those leadership boundaries. This is Leadership Horizons helping you lead beyond boundaries. I'm Lois Burton and I'll see you next week.