The Leadership Balancing Act
"I am not what happened to me, I am what I choose to become." – Carl Jung
What You'll Learn
In a memorable children's book called "Our Iceberg Is Melting," a colony of penguins discovers their home is gradually dissolving beneath them. Some penguins deny the evidence, preferring the comfort of the status quo. Others panic, catastrophizing about imminent doom. Sound familiar?
As leaders, we face our own melting icebergs daily – market disruptions, talent challenges, technological upheavals, economic uncertainties. Our response typically falls somewhere on a continuum between complete denial (🙈) and utter panic (🤯). Where we land often has less to do with the actual circumstances and more to do with our default success strategies – those unconscious patterns we've relied on throughout our careers.
The Danger of Extremes
The Denial Trap (🙈)
Many leaders initially respond to threatening situations by minimizing or ignoring them. This isn't because they're incompetent – quite the opposite. Their success has often come from staying calm under pressure, maintaining optimism, and focusing on opportunities rather than obstacles.
The danger arises when this approach crosses into denial. Consider how this might play out in a typical organization: Warning signs of market disruption appear, but the leadership team interprets them as "temporary anomalies." Employee concerns about workload or culture are labeled as "resistance to change" rather than valuable feedback. When financial indicators begin trending downward, these are explained away as "part of the normal business cycle."
By the time the situation can no longer be denied, the organization has lost valuable response time, talented team members may have departed, and competitors have often gained significant advantages.
🙈 Denial manifests as:
Dismissing concerning data as "temporary" or "not applicable to us"
Delaying difficult conversations or decisions
Overemphasizing positive indicators while ignoring warning signs
Continuing business as usual despite clear evidence that change is needed
The Panic Response (🤯)
At the other extreme, some leaders catastrophize, making reactive decisions driven by fear rather than strategic thinking. This often stems from default success strategies that previously rewarded urgent action, problem identification, or crisis management.
Imagine a leadership team that, upon seeing early indicators of market change, immediately launches multiple simultaneous initiatives, dramatically cuts budgets across all departments, and communicates with such urgency that the organization becomes consumed with crisis management. The team stops all innovation projects to "focus on the core business," only to discover later that those abandoned initiatives would have positioned them well for the emerging market conditions.
The panic response prevents the organization from seeing opportunities within challenges and often creates secondary problems that can be more damaging than the original threat.
🤯 Panic manifests as:
Making sweeping decisions with insufficient data
Creating a sense of emergency that paralyzes normal operations
Abandoning strategic priorities for short-term tactics
Communicating in ways that amplify anxiety throughout the organization
Finding the Balanced Middle Path
The most effective leaders consciously navigate between these extremes, creating what can be called "productive discomfort" – enough urgency to motivate action without triggering paralysis.
This balanced approach requires more than mere moderation; it demands consciousness about our default patterns and a willingness to make purposeful choices rather than reactive responses.
John Kotter's change management framework, illustrated through the penguin fable, offers valuable guidance:
Create appropriate urgency (not denial 🙈, not panic 🤯)
Build a guiding coalition (diverse perspectives prevent extremes)
Form a strategic vision (anchored in purpose, not fear)
Enlist a volunteer army (engagement prevents both complacency and chaos)
Enable action by removing barriers (conscious choices, not default reactions)
Generate short-term wins (build confidence without false security)
Sustain acceleration (momentum without burnout)
Institute change (embed new patterns into culture)
As our partner Jermaine put it, with regards to his own leadership journey: "I have consciously decided to replace change with growth. I declare that change is merely a component of growth, and by recognizing growth over change, I reduce my fear of the unknown."
This perspective shift – from fear-based reaction to purpose-driven response – is the essence of transformational leadership.
Practical Application
Step 1: Locate Your Default Position
Consider a current situation causing uncertainty in your organization. How are you responding? Are you minimizing the threat, focusing only on positive indicators, and continuing business as usual? Or are you amplifying concerns, making rapid decisions, and creating a sense of crisis?
Most leaders tend to default consistently to one end of the spectrum based on their natural Default Success Strategy. Knowing your pattern is the first step toward conscious choice.
Step 2: Challenge Your Perspective
Wherever you naturally fall on the continuum, challenge yourself to consider the opposite view:
If you tend toward denial: Ask yourself, "What if the concerns are valid? What would a responsible response look like?" Engage team members who tend to be more cautious or analytical to balance your perspective.
If you tend toward panic: Ask, "What aspects of this situation remain stable? What time do we actually have to respond thoughtfully?" Seek input from team members who maintain a longer-term view.
Step 3: Adopt Balanced Communication
How you frame situations for your team dramatically impacts their response. Consider these balanced approaches:
"We're facing significant challenges that require our attention, but we have the resources and capabilities to address them effectively."
"I'm concerned about these trends, and I'm confident that by working together we can develop appropriate responses."
"This situation requires honest assessment and thoughtful action – neither minimizing nor catastrophizing will serve us."
Step 4: Make Purpose-Driven Decisions
When facing uncertainty, anchor your decision-making in your organization's purpose rather than in fear or comfort. Ask:
"What response best aligns with our core mission?"
"Which option would most effectively serve our customers/clients/patients?"
"What decision will we be proud of when looking back, regardless of the outcome?"
This purpose-centered approach helps avoid both the complacency of denial and the reactivity of panic.
The Transformational Choice
Transformational leadership is ultimately about making conscious choices rather than defaulting to unconscious patterns. As Carl Jung reminds us, we are not defined by what happens to us but by what we choose to become.
The uncertainty facing today's organizations demands leaders who can acknowledge reality without being paralyzed by it – who can create urgency without manufacturing emergency.
This balanced response isn't a one-time achievement but a moment-by-moment practice of conscious choice. Each decision point offers an opportunity to either default to our comfortable patterns or to consciously choose a response aligned with our higher purpose.
Where on the continuum do you currently operate? What purposeful shift could you make today to lead more effectively amid uncertainty?
As one CEO wisely noted, when we reframe change as growth, we reduce our fear of the unknown and open ourselves to new possibilities. That's the transformational choice available to all of us, every day.
Join The Interchange: Where CEOs Find Clarity Through Community
Leading through uncertainty doesn't have to be a solitary journey. The Interchange brings together a community of mission-focused CEOs who value integrity, humility, and personal growth.
This monthly gathering provides a confidential space where you can:
Process complex leadership challenges with peers who understand the unique pressures of the role
Gain diverse perspectives from leaders across industries and sectors
Develop practical approaches to your most pressing organizational issues
Build meaningful relationships with fellow leaders committed to transformation
Unlike typical networking groups, The Interchange focuses on substance over status. Our CEOs are united by their commitment to purpose-driven leadership and their desire to become the best versions of themselves.
Join a community where vulnerabilities are strengths, questions are welcomed, and every leader is both teacher and student.