The Mindset That Carries You, and Your Team, Through Uncertainty
There’s a moment every leader hits, often in the quiet between meetings or the middle of a Monday morning chaos-storm, when the question creeps in: “What the hell is going on here?”
Maybe a project’s gone sideways. A senior leader’s changed direction again. A star team member just handed in their notice. Or maybe, more subtly, it’s just that gnawing feeling that things aren’t quite clicking, despite your best efforts.
Uncertainty has a way of seeping in through the cracks. And when it does, it’s not just your own mindset on the line, it’s your team’s emotional climate too.
And here’s something no one tells you early in your leadership journey: Your mindset isn’t just your own. It’s contagious.
The Hidden Lens Sabotaging Your Leadership Confidence
Most of us were never taught how to lead in uncertainty. We’re taught how to plan. How to control. How to deliver. But what happens when the landscape shifts beneath your feet and all your well-laid plans become irrelevant?
That’s where mindset stops being a fluffy buzzword and starts being the thing that determines whether you spiral, or soar.
Many leaders unconsciously operate through a “random chaos” lens. Things happen, often without warning, and they interpret them as threats or failures. Cue stress, over-functioning, blame spirals, and the ever-popular pastime of doom-scrolling job boards at 2am.
Here’s the reframe that changes everything: What if the thing in front of you isn’t random, but designed to serve you?
What if instead of asking, “Why is this happening to me?”, you asked “How is this happening for me?”
These aren’t just semantics. They’re mindset alchemy.
Why This Matters for Your Team
When you shift into this “growth mindset under pressure” lens, something subtle but powerful happens:
- You stop transmitting panic and start transmitting possibility.
- You model what it looks like to stay grounded in ambiguity.
- You build psychological safety, not by being perfect, but by being present.
Your team isn’t looking for a leader with all the answers, they want one who knows how to stay steady when the map stops making sense.
And you can’t fake that steadiness. It comes from your inner operating system, your beliefs about adversity, purpose, and power.
Curiosity: The Superpower in the Storm
When faced with a setback, disappointment, or a hard left turn, most people’s first instinct is to find the reason. “Why did this happen?” “Who’s fault is this?” and “What did I miss?”
The brain loves puzzles. But sometimes it’s solving the wrong one.
The more powerful question is:
“How is this designed to serve me, and those I lead?”
Even if the answer doesn’t come straight away (and often it won’t), the act of asking this question creates space. It invokes curiosity. And curiosity is the antidote to fear.
Curiosity says:
- “Maybe this delay is giving me time to notice something deeper.”
- “Maybe this pushback is revealing a communication gap I can fix.”
- “Maybe this team tension is showing us what’s been unsaid for too long.”
It’s not toxic positivity. It’s radical resourcing. And when you lead from that space, you help others rise too.
From Chaos to Clarity: The Physio Analogy
Let me share a quick story to ground this.
Years ago, I was in a serious accident. The kind that changes the course of your life in a heartbeat. I had to relearn how to use my right hand, and later became ambidextrous, because that’s what was required.
It was two years of brutal physio, of pain and setbacks and more than one ugly-cry moment. But looking back, that accident didn’t just heal, it transformed me. It gave me grit, perspective, and purpose. It taught me to stop sweating the small stuff and to meet life’s curveballs with curiosity and determination.
That mindset didn’t just help me recover. It’s helped me lead.
And that’s the same mindset I invite my clients into when we work together. Whether through storytelling, coaching, or immersive retreat experiences, it’s about learning to see with new eyes.
3 High-Impact Questions That Rewire Everything
Want to start shifting your mindset now? Here are three deceptively simple questions I give to senior and mid-level leaders I work with, especially when they’re navigating change:
- “What’s the opportunity in this?”
(Even if it’s uncomfortable. Even if you can’t see it yet.) - “What am I being invited to learn or lead through?”
(This one’s a game-changer. It moves you from victim to visionary.) - “How can I model resilience without faking positivity?”
(Your team doesn’t need a superhero. They need your humanity.)
Why Storytelling Is the Mindset Gym You Didn’t Know You Needed
Here’s the thing. You can think you’ve got a strong mindset… but if you can’t translate it into a story your team believes, it won’t land.
That’s why I run storytelling workshops and retreats. Because storytelling isn’t just about communication, it’s about meaning-making. It’s the bridge between your internal mindset and your external leadership impact.
When you can tell the story of how you reframed a failure…
When you can name the meaning inside the mess…
When you can speak the truth of uncertainty without collapsing into it…
That’s when your leadership hits differently.
When Leadership Feels Hard: Remember This
If things feel chaotic right now, good. That means something new is trying to break through.
You don’t need to have it all figured out. You just need to ask better questions, stay curious longer, and remember that the mindset you choose is the culture you create.
So next time the ground shifts beneath your feet, try this:
Pour yourself a metaphorical cocktail of curiosity, determination, and a chink of hope with a slice of perspective.
Then ask:
What might be good about this?
What’s here for me?
And what could this unlock for the people I lead?
You might just surprise yourself.
Curious to Go Deeper?
If this spoke to something in you, and you’re ready to craft stories that shift mindsets, inspire your team, and reconnect you with your own purpose, then you’re exactly who I created StoryPower for.
Because leadership isn’t just about navigating uncertainty.
It’s about making meaning in the midst of it.
Let’s talk. Drop me a message and let’s see what’s possible.