Leading through Uncertainty
In an era defined by rapid shifts and unforeseen challenges, from economic volatility and climate concerns to geopolitical tensions and societal changes, leaders face an unprecedented landscape of uncertainty. These pervasive threats extend beyond local communities, creating a global sense of unease and existential stress—a continual contemplation of our place in a world that feels increasingly unpredictable.
People traditionally find meaning in life by connecting to something larger than themselves. With evolving societal norms, many now seek this sense of meaning primarily through their work. Yet recent data paints a concerning picture of declining engagement and increasing struggles within the workforce.
Only 21% of workers are fully engaged (down 10% from last year), and 66% of employees are “suffering,” according to Gallup's 2025 data. The 2025 World Happiness Report shows that US happiness plummeted from 15th in 2024 to 24th in 2025.
In 2024, only 21% of employees strongly agreed that their organization cares about their overall wellbeing, matching a record low. This is an important statistic for employers, as employees who feel strongly that their organization cares about their wellbeing are almost 70% less likely to actively search for another job.
In addition, only 30% of employees feel connected to their company's mission, a record low. When provided with a community atmosphere, employees are 74% more engaged and 81% more likely to stay with the organization. Overall, they are much more likely to thrive at work.
What can leaders do to offer a sense of meaning to themselves and their teams?
1. Always reference the organizational North Star.
Most of my clients overseeing dissatisfied team members have a lack of clarity about what they’re trying to achieve. Leaders and leadership teams ought to:
Revisit their organization’s North Star, which can take a variety of forms: mission, vision, values, target outcomes, strategic goals. The extent to which each of these is accentuated will vary.
Commit to a simple North Star narrative and consistently lead with it. Communicate clearly, across all of the channels at your disposal.
Be transparent about decisions, especially things people have been expecting or have been promised — e.g., Are we moving ahead with restructuring our department or not? What will it take to get there? Why have we been waiting? When will it start? When will it be done?
Create space for people to raise questions about discrepancies, confusing decisions, and places where the organization is not living up to its values. This means normalizing asking tough questions and being transparent.
2. Don’t just communicate the vision – live it.
This next step can be the hardest: it’s essential not only to “say” your North Star but also to “do” it.
Embed this vision into your systems and structures. If your purpose connects to the planet’s well-being, then systematically embed this focus into all that you do.
Create rituals and routines. They could be around how meetings are run or what topic you dig into on the second Friday of every month. The more people can anticipate what’s coming, the better. Group bonding activities—like a company cheer or firing a Nerf gun to conclude a project—led to a 16% increase in how meaningful employees judged their work to be. Consider how in-person work might support this sense of community.
Clarify expectations: what do you, as a leader, actually want and need from others right now? So much emphasis has been placed on adapting, on “pivoting,” on resilience, that it may be entirely unclear to people when it’s okay to ask for help and when they are just supposed to get things done on their own. The same goes for lack of clarity about roles, authorities, interdependencies, and goals.
Build in clear professional growth pathways to see how employees can contribute to organizational mission more meaningfully over time.
3. Help individuals build personal resilience.
In order to build resilience against these stressors, we can build existential health at the individual level. Existential health is fulfilled by considering the purpose of human existence more broadly and, as an individual, living in alignment with one’s values.
Create space for people to explore how their work connects to a greater purpose and to their own values.
Help people see how their work connects to that purpose. This can be especially powerful for managers to spend real time with. Create space for people to work through this. If people can’t see the connection, they’ll leave.
Help people build skills to catch themselves worrying about the future and purposely shifting our focus to the immediate moment, particularly sensory input. This includes the sounds, smells, sights, and sensations around us.
Focusing especially on gratitude or things that are going well (rather than focusing too much on problems) has been shown to be particularly helpful.
The challenges of our current era demand a new approach to leadership—one that prioritizes not just productivity, but also the profound human need for meaning, connection, and resilience. The data is clear: employees are seeking more from their work and their leaders. By consistently referencing an organizational North Star, authentically living out that vision, and actively fostering personal resilience within their teams, leaders can cultivate environments where individuals not only survive uncertainty but truly thrive. This holistic approach to leadership is not merely a best practice; it is an imperative for building a more engaged, connected, and resilient workforce in an ever-changing world.
