Leading Through Uncertainty: Grounded Strategies for Managing Change
- Chrysta Wilson
- Sep 23
- 4 min read
Some change is planned. Some change shows up uninvited, unapologetic, and entirely outside your control.
The psychological strain is real. And for organizations that care about their people, ignoring it is not an option.
This is the kind of disruption that unsettles what feels steady. It fractures routines and forces hard decisions. And it reveals something important:
Even when the cause of the disruption is outside your control, how you respond is still leadership.
Two Types of Change Leaders Must Manage
In my years of advising organizations through transformation, I have found that change generally falls into two categories.
Intentional Change: This is the kind you plan for. A new technology, a shift in mission, a long-term strategic goal. You choose it, shape it, and roll it out with care.
Disruptive Change: This is the kind you did not ask for. A funder pulls out. Public policy shifts. A political or social crisis unfolds that changes the conditions your organization works in. You did not choose it, but now you have to respond.
Both types require leadership. But the second one is where many leaders feel most overwhelmed, isolated, or unsteady.
3 Grounded Strategies for Change Management and Leading Through Uncertainty
If you are managing change that is destabilizing, unexpected, or outside your control, whether due to political disruption, economic shifts, or other external shocks, here is where I invite leaders to start.
1. Name What Is True, Even If You Cannot Fix It Yet
Silence in chaos often reads as indifference.
People do not expect you to have all the answers. But they do expect honesty, acknowledgment, and presence.
Use our C.A.R.E.™ Framework: Context, Acknowledgment, Reorientation, Engagement. This helps leaders manage change and move from reactive messaging to thoughtful guidance.
Context: Share what is happening and why, so people are not left to fill in the blanks.
Acknowledgment: Name the emotional or operational impact, what is being felt, feared, or disrupted.
Reorientation: Offer any facts, timelines, or direction that help reframe the moment with honesty and hope.
Engagement: Invite your team into the next step, whether that is a conversation, a support resource, or co-creating the plan forward.
When emotions run high, this structure helps restore calm, trust, and direction without rushing past what people are experiencing.
2. Reaffirm What Has Not Changed
In uncertainty, people reach for stability. Reground your team in what is still true: your values, your commitments, and your culture. This creates a psychological anchor that can keep teams connected even when logistics are shifting.
This aligns with our Recipe for Transformation™, a nine-step framework that helps organizations move from disruption to clarified direction by aligning vision, people, and strategy. Especially in uncertain times, this recipe becomes a roadmap for sustainable, equity-centered change.
At a recent retreat and training with the LA County Department of Health Services, we put this into practice. The department was navigating significant shifts that left many uncertain and anxious about the future.
During a day-long retreat, we created space for leaders to acknowledge the realities they were facing, identify their best leadership stance for the moment, and practice tools for scenario planning. Sometimes open conversations and real-time strategizing can be an important strategy for managing change.
By the end of the retreat, participants reported feeling more grounded, aligned, and confident about how to manage uncertainty together. This is what leading through uncertainty looks like in action: reconnecting to what makes you grounded while preparing for what is shifting.
Change management has two levels: the systems required for the change and bringing the people along. If your leaders aren't equipped with the stories and tools to manage the change then it will be hard for you to have the success you seek.
3. Stabilize the Leaders So They Can Steady the Team
Disruption outside often reveals instability inside.
That is why we guide managers and senior leaders through our P.I.V.O.T.™ Framework, built to support grounded, values-aligned decision-making when the pressure is on.
We help leaders:
Prepare mentally, emotionally, and strategically
Invite others into the process early and with intention
Visualize new paths forward using tools like futurecasting and scenario planning
Own what is within their control
Take Action that is timely, decisive, and aligned with core values
When leaders are stabilized, teams can find steadiness too.
Managing Change Does Not Have to Be Lonely
When change arrives, especially from outside forces, you do not need to face it without support.
At Wilson and Associates, we partner with organizations to build people-first strategies that make leading through uncertainty less overwhelming. Our services include:
One-on-one strategic advising
Scenario planning retreats and strategy resets
Full change management planning and implementation consulting
About the Author
Chrysta Wilson is a conflict and culture strategist, leadership development expert, and creator of the Periodic Table of Great Culture Elements™. Through her firm, Wilson and Associates, she helps organizations build inclusive, high-impact, people-first workplaces using the proprietary T.H.R.I.V.E. OS Culture Operating System.
Book a 15 minute clarity call with Chrysta by using this link:
