How To Help People Waka Through Uncertainty

Reorg dey come and you fit feel di room change. People don quiet for meeting. Two of your best hands don suddenly dey shine dia resume. Somebody ask you, half-joke, weda dem suppose dey worry, and you no even sabi di answer yet. Something dey pull you to talk sweet, vague word. Something dey pull you too to talk nothing at all.

Na dis na di hard middle of leading through uncertainty. You no fit promise say things go dey fine, because you no sabi. You no fit pretend say nothing dey happen, because everybody don already feel am. So wetin you go do wit di gap between wetin people want from you and wetin you fit honestly give dem?

Plenty of di bad advice for here dey push you go false confidence. Show say you sure. Be di rock. Di wahala be say people fit usually tell wen you dey perform, and e go cost you di one thing wey you most need now, wey na dia trust. Better way dey to stand for di not-knowing, and e start wit make you clear-eye about wetin dey happen inside di people wey surround you.

Wetin uncertainty dey do to person

Uncertainty na im own kind stress, separate from bad news. Plenty people fit take hard, definite blow and cope wit am. Wetin dey wear dem down na di not knowing. Di mind, wen you give am blank, go fill am wit worst case for loop.

Psychologists dey talk about something dem call intolerance of uncertainty, and di American Psychological Association point to one plain result of am: people wey dey struggle more wit di unknown dey more prone to low mood and anxiety. Some of your team go weda di ambiguity fine. Odas go quietly scatter inside am, and you no go always fit tell which one be which from outside.

Wetin dis mean for real life be say during uncertain stretch, plenty of your people dey run dia nervous system harder pass normal just to show up. Dem tire pass wetin di work fit explain. Dem slow to decide. Dem quick to read neutral message as bad sign. None of dat na character wahala. Na wetin open-ended threat dey do to human being, and na di actual condition of di people wey you dey try lead.

Wen you remember dat, plenty leadership moves stop to be about strategy and start to be about lowering di background hum of fear small so people fit think again.

Call di unknown out loud

Di instinct under pressure na to hide wetin you no sabi. No gree do am. To talk say "na dis I sabi, na dis I no sabi, and na dis time I expect to sabi more" dey do something quiet but powerful: e give people frame for di silence. Di not-knowing stop to be sign say dem dey hide something from dem. E become shared condition wey una all dey stand inside togeda.

Na here di research on psychological safety worth to hear. Amy Edmondson, wey dey study how teams dey perform under pressure, don find say psychological safety, di sense say you fit talk up, ask question, or admit say you dey worry witout dem punish you for am, dey matter more wen uncertainty high, no be less. Di more murky di situation, di more team need people wey dey raise concern and float idea to find way through. And leaders dey build dat climate partly by naming di uncertainty demself, wey make am safe for everybody else to talk about am too.

Di practical version small and you fit repeat am. For tense times, talk di quiet thing first. "I no get full clarity on dis one yet too." "Dat na fair worry, and I don get am too." Every time you do dat, you dey give people permission to stop pretending, wey na exactly wen dem go start to tell you wetin dey really happen.

Talk di truth, even wen e no complete

Difference dey between no get answer and no dey straight. People fit live wit di first one. Di second one na wetin dey break dem.

Wen you go vague to protect people, dem usually feel di vagueness and assume say di truth worse pass wetin e be. Dia imagination almost always dark pass reality. So give dem di real, partial picture. Wetin don decide. Wetin never. Wetin you genuinely no fit talk yet, and why. "I no fit share di timeline because e never set, and I no go guess am and be wrong" na sentence wey dey build trust. Cheerful non-answer dey destroy am.

Dis one need small liver, because honest uncertainty dey feel like weakness for di moment. E no be. Di leaders wey people keep following through hard stretch rarely be di ones wey figure everything out. Na di ones wey dey straight wit dem wen e for easy to no be.

No go quiet for di gap

Stretch dey for every uncertain situation wia you no get anything new to report. Decisions dey happen above you, or di market never turn, or you just dey wait. Di temptation na to keep quiet until you get something solid to talk. Dat silence na one of di most common mistake wey leader dey make for here.

Wen leaders go quiet, people no dey conclude say nothing dey happen. Dem dey conclude say something dey happen and dem dey keep dem out of am. Di rumor mill dey fill di gap, and rumor dey run dark and fast pass any update wey you for give. So communicate on rhythm, no be only wen news dey. "Nothing don change since last week, and I go tell una di moment e do" na real update. E worth to send.

Few things dey make dis easy to keep up:

• Set expectation wey people fit rely on. Tell dem wen dem go next hear from you, den hit dat mark even if all wey you get na "still no news." Di reliability itself dey reassure person.
• Talk di same true thing more pass once. People under stress no dey absorb information di first time, and to repeat yourself no be disrespect. Na so di message dey actually land.
• Leave room for question, and answer di ones wey you fit. "I no know" wey you talk openly beat confident answer wey you go later walk back.

Di goal simple. Nobody suppose guess weda you don forget dem or weda di silence mean bad news. Steady drumbeat of contact, even thin contact, dey keep di fear from compounding for di dark.

Give people something to hold

Na here you fit be genuinely useful. People wey dey drown for wetin dem no fit control go calm down measurably wen you help dem find wetin dem fit.

Di APA core advice for di stress of uncertainty na exactly dis: focus on wetin dey within your control, even di small tings. As leader you fit do dat for whole team. Wen di big picture no dey anybody hand, shrink di frame to wetin actually na dia own dis week.

• Point to di work wey still matter regardless of how things shake out. "Whatever happen for upstairs, dis project still need to ship well, and na our own."
• Protect few stable routine on purpose. Standing check-in wey no dey cancel, clear next step at di end of every meeting. Predictability na kindness wen everything else dey shake.
• Make decisions at normal pace wia you fit, instead of freezing everything "until we sabi more." Visible forward motion, even on small things, dey tell di body say di situation workable.
• Be specific about wetin you need from each person right now. Clear, doable task na one of di most grounding things wey you fit hand somebody wey mind dey spin.

None of dis na spin. You no dey tell people say di storm no real. You dey hand dem oar.

Hope witout lie

Trap dey wey dey catch well-meaning leaders. To keep spirit up, dem dey reach for reassurance wey no be dia own to give. "Dis one go all dey fine." "Nobody dey go anywia." "I promise say e go work out." Di intention na kindness. Di effect, wen e turn out say e no true, na say people stop to believe anything wey you talk.

Version of hope dey wey no need lie, and e sturdy pass. E dey sound like confidence for di people, no be certainty about di outcome. "I no sabi how dis go land, but I don watch dis team pass through worse, and I go rather face am wit una pass anybody else." Dat na honest and e dey lift room. You no dey promise di future. You dey vouch for di people wey go meet am.

Di difference matter because di hard news, if e come, go arrive eventually. Wen e do, di leaders wey never oversold na di ones wey still dey stand on solid ground. Di ones wey promise di world go spend dia credibility long before dem need am most. Keep your promise small and your faith in people large, and you fit be source of genuine hope witout ever talk something wey you go regret.

Watch your own weather

Di people wey surround you dey read you more close pass usual, and emotions dey move through group like weather. If you waka in wit tight jaw and clip talk, dat dey travel. If you steady, dat dey travel too.

Dis no be call to fake calm. Fake calm dey leak. Na reason to actually tend to your own state, because for uncertain stretch you be, weda you like am or not, di most-watched thermostat for di room. Get your own support. Find di person wey you fit be unguarded wit so you no carry am all go work. Long slow breath out before hard conversation dey do more pass wetin you go think. You no fit give team steadiness wey you no get any of yourself.

And give yourself di same honesty wey you dey offer dem. You no go get every call right for situation wia nobody get full information. Di aim no be flawless performance. Na to be reliable, truthful presence wey people fit orient to while things dey settle.

Wen somebody dey struggle more pass wetin di moment explain

Sometimes di help wey person need big pass anything wey manager suppose try provide. Pay attention if somebody look like dem dey come undone well past wetin di situation call for. Dem dey withdraw hard. Dem no fit focus for weeks. Dem dey talk about demself wit hopelessness wey no sit right wit you. Uncertainty for work fit press on grief and fear wey no get anything to do wit di org chart, and e fit pull people go territory wey need real care.

You no need to diagnose anything, and you no suppose try. Wetin you fit do na to notice, check in like human being ("you no dey look like yourself lately, how you dey actually do"), and make sure dem sabi say di real resources dey, employee assistance program, therapist, dia doctor. If anybody distress ever fear you, treat am as urgent and help dem reach professional or crisis support straight away instead of handling am alone.

To lead people well through uncertainty no mean to carry everybody weight yourself. E mean to be steady enough, and honest enough, so nobody go carry dia own for silence. You no fit tell dem how e go end. You fit make sure say dem no dey alone while dem dey wait to find out.

Sources

• Harvard Business Review, 6 Strategies for Leading Through Uncertainty (Rebecca Zucker and Darin Rowell)
• American Psychological Association, Tips for Dealing With the Stress of Uncertainty
• UNSW BusinessThink, Amy Edmondson on Psychological Safety in an Uncertain World