188. Leading through Change & Uncertainty

Feeling like your team is exhausted by constant change? You're not alone. 

In this episode of the Strong Leader Serve podcast, we delve into strategies for leading through change with empathy and clarity. 

Learn five practical ways to help your team navigate change fatigue, from maintaining clarity to managing energy and fostering connections. This episode draws on insights from psychology, neuroscience, and behavioral economics, offering actionable tips for mid-level and senior leaders. 

Get ready to lead your team through transitions more effectively and renew their motivation as you prepare for another season of leadership challenges.

Connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/teri-m-schmidt/

Get 1-on-1 leadership support from Teri here: https://www.strongleadersserve.com/coaching

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Transcript

0:01

Do you ever feel like your team is just tired of change, like no matter how important or well planned the initiative, it's met with eye rolls, size or quiet disengagement. You're not alone. I know. I've been the one that's been quietly doing the eye rolls as well. In fact, one of the most common challenges I hear from leaders in our coaching sessions is the question. How do I lead my team through yet another change when they're already burned out from the last one? That's exactly what we're talking about today. Leading through change and helping your team navigate change fatigue, especially in these uncertain times. This is the third episode in our end of season podcast series where I'm introducing the key themes we will explore more deeply in our leadership build group coaching series. Starting in September, In the first episode, we explored how to handle those difficult conversations and how to effectively give feedback. Last time we talked about the real identity shifts needed for effective delegation, and today we're diving into change leadership specifically. How mid-level and senior level leaders can support their teams, through the wear and tear of constant change. I'm Terry Schmidt, executive and leadership coach at Strong Leaders Serve, where I partner with compassionate driven leaders to transform potential into performance. And this is the Strong Leader Serve podcast. Let's start with a quick truth from psychology. Change. Fatigue isn't the same as resistance. It's often exhaustion, depletion, a very human response to a relentless pace of transition without recovery. And while you might not be able to control the pace of change in your organization, you can influence how your team experiences and moves through it. So that's my challenge to you. So let's talk about five ways that you can lead through change with empathy and clarity without losing momentum. These strategies are grounded in psychology, neuroscience and behavioral economics research, and I'll translate them into concrete actions you can take this week. So the first one, clarity over certainty. I've talked about before how neuroscience tells us that the brain craves predictability. When we don't have it, our brain has to use more of our stored energy and we feel threat even when the change is positive. So what can you do as a leader, especially when there is so much uncertainty around, well, first you can share what's known. What's unknown and how you will keep your team updated. Providing just that little bit of clarity can be a huge step in helping people feel less threatened about the change. Sticking along the same lines of clarity over certainty. You can use a visual map or a change timeline so that your team can anchor themselves in a bigger story. And third, probably the easiest, but sometimes the one that is the first one that we let go of. Keep some routines consistent, familiar rituals. Even a weekly check-in that you always have at the same time can offer psychological safety. The second tip is to acknowledge losses and reframe gains. In my workshops about change,, I often use the theme that change creates loss, but it also creates opportunity. The thing is, behavioral economics reminds us that people feel losses twice as strongly as gains. So when something changes like a process, a team structure or a decision making norm, it may feel like a loss of control, familiarity, or even status. And it is critically important to call those changes out, to acknowledge them, and in many cases, to even grieve them. If we try to just gloss over them and go straight to the opportunity, we will never make progress. So what you can do as a leader to acknowledge losses and reframe gains. First, say the quiet part out loud. When introducing something new to a team, you might start by saying, this shift might feel like we're losing some autonomy or clarity right now. Then help reframe. But here's what we stand to. Gain more flexibility, faster decisions. Stronger alignment. And then finally connect the change to something personal or meaningful. Now, this may be different for every team member, and this is where acting like a detective as a leader, something I talk about lot, a lot when we're talking about motivation really comes in. What is meaningful for each of your team members? How can this change connect to that meaning? Okay, maybe you have a team member who you know is really passionate about customer service. You might tie this into how the change will help you to serve the customers better. You might have someone else who really cares about your team having a voice at the table. So maybe you tie the change into how it will improve your team's influence in the organization. The important thing is to know and honor what is important to each team member, and if possible, find a way to show how this change is actually an opportunity linked to that thing that they are passionate about. The third tip for you that you can implement even today is manage energy, not just engagement. Fatigue is often more about energy than attitude. Why frequent transitions often lead to change, fatigue. Is because we do not put any emphasis on the need to recover, even in small ways. It's just change after change, after change and each new change comes with a different implementation plan, action plans, and motivational and communication plans. It all feels like so much. And then once we get locked into that change, we get another change coming at us. So what can you do as a leader to help manage your team's energy? First, give space for recovery moments. Even 10 minutes. Even 10 minute blocks can help. I know for me, because one of my innate talents is to be a learner. Taking a recovery break of just 10 minutes to listen to a podcast or watch a YouTube video about something that I wanna learn about can go, can do wonders to help me recover. For someone else, it might be taking a 10 minute walk outside, but making sure that you give the space for those recovery moments is critically important. Second. Let go of lower impact work or pause non-essential initiatives. I know that our team had a regular habit of doing start, stop, continue exercises, and what that did is as we looked at our work for that month or that quarter, and who we needed to be as a team for the organization, figuring out what we needed to and wanted to stop, helped us to focus more on those things that we wanted to either continue doing well or start anew, and that gave us a little bit of margin for recovery as well. And then finally, celebrate small wins. Recognition boosts dopamine and helps to rebuild motivation. Now my fourth tip is to give choice and voice. Now, according to self-determination theory, motivation thrives when people feel autonomy, competence, and connection. Change. Fatigue often hits hardest when people feel that change is happening to them, not with them. So what to do as a leader? Well offer small choices. Maybe you can offer the choice to your team about if they prefer to implement one part of the change next week or the following, maybe your team can weigh in on how things roll out. Even if the what is non-negotiable and finally take it to the team. Ask them where do you feel like you could shape this process more? And then really listen and see what's possible. All of those are a great way to give your team some ownership of the change so you can lessen the likelihood of them experiencing change fatigue. And then finally the fifth tip, rebuild, connection. Change can be isolating, especially in the world that we live in today. We have a lot of ways to avoid building connection with others. Maybe we work remotely, and I'm not saying that remote work. Dictates that you can't be connected to your coworkers, but you do have to be much more intentional about it. And sometimes it's just easier not to connect. Many people are turning to generative AI for advice and even in some cases for coaching. And whereas that might be really convenient, it doesn't do much. For us in terms of getting the benefits of true human connection, neuroscience shows us that social disconnection triggers pain centers in the brain, literally. And so as our teams are going through uncertainty and change, what we can do as a leader to help them buffer some of the negative feelings that they are feeling is to help them connect. Build in time. May in your weekly meeting for human connection, not just for project updates, start team meetings with questions like, what's one word to describe how you're feeling about this change, and then be ready to follow up if needed. If you sense that someone is feeling very anxious or maybe doesn't have the information that they need about the change, you can follow up with them personally after the meeting. And then finally, you may even pair people up for a short term buddy system to foster collaboration and accountability, especially in the midst of change. There are many more ways to rebuild connection, and we'll talk about more of those in the workshop. But whatever you do, I do encourage you to think about how can each team member connect with someone about something that's not work related? How can each team member see their team, see your team as a source of connection? So to recap, the best way to reduce change fatigue isn't to power through. It is to lead through it with in with empathy, intention, and clarity. If you take one idea away from today's episode, let it be this change Leadership is not about being the expert who knows everything. It's about being the guide who creates a safe space for your team to learn, adapt, and recover together. And if this topic resonated with you, I'd love to invite you to join our upcoming leadership Build group coaching series, kicking off this September. In that group, we'll dig deeper into this change fatigue challenge, the real conversations coaching, and yes, even hands-on methods like Lego, serious play to spark creativity. And unlike unlock new insights. It is a space where compassionate driven leaders from different industries will come together to strengthen their leadership skills while supporting each other. You'll leave with fresh tools, renewed energy, and a community that understands your day-to-day day challenges. So speaking today's topic, if you are dealing with change fatigue yourself, this is a great place both to build connection and to reignite your energy. So if that sounds like the kind of leadership development you've been looking for, stay tuned for more details coming next week. Until then, keep leading with heart and clarity and know that you don't have to do it alone.