We Are All Crisis Managers Now

“In a world we cannot recognize, how do we find a way forward? In this world we do not understand, how do we know what to do? When so little is comprehensible, what is meaningful work, what is genuine contribution?”

Margaret Wheatley, Who Do We Choose to Be?

Photo by Matt C on Unsplash

Welcome to the Era of Perpetual Upheaval

We made it through January. That’s something, isn’t it?

Wherever you are reading this, I hope you and your loved ones are safe and healthy. The polycrisis is no longer a distant concept—it’s our daily reality. Climate change, political polarization, income inequality, technological disruption, and global economic uncertainty press in on us from all sides.

Just since November, the U.S. has endured devastating hurricanes on the East Coast and unprecedented wildfires in urban Los Angeles. If you lead an organization, your people—directly or indirectly—are feeling the effects of increased stress.

McKinsey has termed this the “era of perpetual upheaval” and it certainly feels like it. Crisis management is no longer a specialized function owned by risk professionals focused on emergency protocols and business continuity planning. Today, every leader is a crisis manager. The problem? There are no checklists for the unpredictable.

Sure, knowing where the emergency exits are matters. But how do you prepare for a world in which the ground is constantly shifting? How do you lead when existential stress fogs the future?

Here are three ways you can show up for yourself, your employees, and your organization in uncertain times.

1. Be Human First

“I am just a human being trying to make it in a world that is rapidly losing its understanding of being human.”

John Trudell, Native American author, poet, actor, musician, and political activist

The pandemic reminded us of something fundamental: We are interconnected. We banged pots together. We wore masks to protect each other. We rediscovered that we are responsible for one another.

I believe that remembering our interconnectedness provided the opening for many to realize that so many things about our own lives and society were out of balance or just patently unjust.

Then we started to forget.

As vaccines rolled out and infections waned, so too did our collective sense of obligation. Today, our workplaces reflect this amnesia. When leaders default to “business as usual” in times of extraordinary stress, they risk appearing, at best, tone-deaf—and at worst, callous.

And now it would seem that the “arc of the moral universe” isn’t bending toward justice, but rather, increased intolerance, separation, and dehumanization. Indeed, it’s time to ask ourselves ‘what is our work?’ and ‘how do we want to lead?’

Leaders create containers for work. The nature of that container matters. If it prioritizes control above all else, policies like rigid return-to-office mandates emerge. If it balances flexibility with connection, hybrid models take shape. Gallup research shows that increasing the number of employees who feel their opinions count can lead to a 40% reduction in safety incidents and a 12% increase in productivity. Meanwhile, a well-executed study published in Harvard Business Review on Trip.com’s hybrid work model found it lowered turnover and increased profits.

A CIO I met with last week at a Southern California university put it plainly: “The community is trying to balance resilience, compassion, and getting on with life with crushing grief, uncertainty, fear, and horror.”

She gets it. And she knows that as humane leadership requires balancing “the work” with what is happening in our current reality.

Leading effectively means leading with empathy. It also requires cultivating self awareness. Before any high-stakes meeting, I ask myself: How do I want to show up? That simple question gives me a moment of choice—to regulate my emotions and set my tone.

Reflection: Are you creating a culture of care in your team or organization? Are you investing in relationships that will sustain your organization through uncertainty?

2. Acknowledge Reality

“Let your wisdom as a human being connect with the power of things as they are.” Chogyam Trungpa, Buddhist Teacher

In January, I convened a dialogue group on the ideas in the book Who Do We Choose to Be? Margaret Wheatley urges us to put down the “hopium” pipe and face reality. At first this freaked me out. No Hope? Isn’t hope essential for motivation and perseverance?

Then, someone in the group—who had just returned home after the L.A. wildfire evacuation—said that surrendering the need for false hope had actually made her feel lighter. We laughed, recognizing that constant grasping and wishing for a different, better reality was exhausting us all. Sometimes, the most stabilizing thing we can do is call a spade a spade.

Uncertainty is scary. And things will continue to happen in our personal lives, organizations we work within, and our world. We are going to have to face hard truths. And, we know from neuroscience and personal experience that ambiguity raises a human's stress response.

Acknowledging reality while leading people to continue to contribute at work is a tricky needle to thread. It’s increasingly difficult to discern real from fake human voices created with AI. But I know for certain that employees are still quite astute at detecting inauthenticity when it comes to “corporate speak.”

I recall times as a corporate leader when I’ve had to deliver austerity messages like, “no travel” at the same time the company is reporting record earnings. It’s hard to justify these types of discrepancies and trying to silver-lining bad news can come across as insincere or, worse, downright lying. And, it most definitely breeds cynicism and lowers trust.

If you don’t know something, say so. Transparency builds trust. And in times of upheaval, trust is a leader’s greatest asset. I’ve found it best to deliver information in a transparent, straight forward way that might still be disappointing but that employees can believe.

Reflection: How are you exhibiting a “soft front” (compassion and empathy) and “strong back” (direction and clarity) in difficult times? How do you thread the needle of authentic transparency while continuing to motivate your people?

3. Identify What is in your Sphere of Influence

I have used this diagram with teams to help them see, visually, what is in and out of their sphere of influence. It helps to focus attention and meaningful action.

Disappointing events will happen in your organization. You will have to lead through them.

I learned this firsthand in 2016 when the Wells Fargo sales scandal broke. An early career employee wrote to me and my managers, devastated: “How can you stay at a company that engaged in such misdeeds?”

I couldn’t change the reality of the situation. But I could acknowledge her disillusionment. I spent a good chunk of a Saturday morning writing a response. I shared my own disappointment and loss (we had been touted as one of the few “good guys” in the 2008 financial crisis). I explained why I stayed—to mentor people like her and to focus on work that genuinely benefited our customers.

I also made it clear that if her values no longer aligned with the organization, leaving was a valid choice. She stayed for five more years.

Reflection: How do you determine what is your work to do and what lies outside your control? How do you support your team in making meaning of circumstances you didn’t create and can’t fix?

The Leaders We Need Now

We are all crisis managers now.

The leaders of tomorrow will not succeed by clinging to outdated “business as usual” playbooks.

To lead in an era of perpetual upheaval, you must cultivate resilience, creative problem-solving, and complexity navigation—not just for yourself, but for those who look to you for guidance.

The leaders we need now are not just decision-makers. They are sensemakers—guides who can acknowledge uncertainty, honor our shared humanity, and create spaces where people can do meaningful work in an unstable world.

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This is the work I do at Ubuntu Culture Company—helping leaders cultivate cultures of resilience, connection, and deep adaptability in an era of perpetual upheaval. My approach is rooted in the belief that organizations don’t just need new strategies; they need new ways of being. If this resonates with you, I’d love to continue the conversation.

For more on human-centered leadership, check out these two previous posts, Creating Islands of Sanity at Work and What Do Middle Managers Do? I discuss leadership qualities most needed in times of upheaval and crisis like displaying compassion, care, and fostering connection. And, I’ll See You on the Balcony shares my varying success at taking the reflective pause before action.

All of these ideas can be customized and delivered as keynote talks.

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