Leading in Uncertain Times

By Dr. Fredricka Joyner, ModernThink Senior Consultant

In today’s rapidly evolving higher education landscape, the pace of change continues to quicken and is increasingly driven by external forces. Uncertainty is no longer an exception – it is the rule. The increased anxiety and lowered morale that frequently accompany near-constant uncertainty can limit the ability of individuals and teams to engage in productive work. The challenge for leaders is to hone skills and behaviors that lower anxiety, making space to foster cultural qualities such as adaptability, well-being and belonging, all the while maintaining their own equilibrium in an ever more turbulent environment.  Let’s start unpacking this challenge by exploring how “change has changed” and the resulting impact on individuals and teams.

How Change Has Changed

For decades, organizational change was generally gradual, and the variables involved were largely predictable. In higher education, changes to policies or pedagogical approaches often unfolded across multiple academic years. During that era, the prevailing approaches to change involved highly structured models that led to a destination — a “desired future state.”  These models acknowledged that there may be some uncertainty during implementation, but there was light at the end of the tunnel.  When the desired future state was reached, stability would be restored.

In more recent times the pandemic led to fundamental shifts in approaches to change.  The prevailing mental model shifted away from achieving a desired future state with stability restored to reaching a “new normal.”  While the new normal acknowledged that things would never fundamentally be the same, it still held out hope for a destination point where things would be somewhat stable again.

We have now moved from the new normal to the paradigm of the “next normal.”  The next normal is but a temporary stopping point in an environment of continuous, unpredictable change.  The overlapping, colliding, and frame-breaking changes facing our institutions require continuous – often daily – adaptation and offer little hope of stability for the foreseeable future.

The Impact on Individuals and Teams

A steady diet of uncertainty can trigger a psychological (and physiological) downward spiral. The uncertainty and the perceived threats inherent in the various changes that are surfacing across higher education increase anxiety.  Increases in anxiety begin to set off the fight/flight/freeze response. This response jams bandwidth and commandeers cognitive resources. These resources are then no longer readily available to support the ability to engage in productive work. In short, as anxiety increases, morale and the ability to engage in productive work decrease.  Other knock-on effects may include increased feelings of burnout, decreased levels of engagement, possible retention challenges, and further downstream, potential recruitment issues.  One leader I worked with at an elite private institution christened this cycle “the spin” to describe how her staff was stuck spinning through a range of difficult emotions – anger, frustration, confusion, fear, etc. – that left them unable to slow down and focus on the work at hand.

It is important to acknowledge that the fear and worry felt by faculty and staff is a response to very real circumstances. Anxiety about job security, future roles, or shifting expectations. Grief over lost traditions or cultural norms. Cognitive overload due to rapid adaptation demands. These and more are common emotional responses to the current situation.  Fortunately, leaders at all levels can play significant roles in acknowledging these realities while taking proactive steps to “slow the spin” and lessen its harmful impact on individuals, teams and the culture of the institution, ultimately making space to focus on the work at hand.

Strategy: Make connections to larger meaning.

Research on the importance of connection to meaning goes back more than 70 years.  Connection to meaning can take a variety of forms including connection to the institution’s core values and connection to the core work of the institution and the constituencies it serves.  In uncertain times it is easy to lose sight of why we are fundamentally attracted to the work we do and why we show up every day.

Best Practices:

• Draw frequent connections between the institutional mission and values and daily work.
• Develop and use an elevator speech that communicates your personal passion for the institutional mission – why YOU care. This can build a personal connection and also encourage individuals to think about why THEY care.

Great Colleges Survey Belief Statement	% Positive Honor Roll Colleges*	% Positive Not Recognized Colleges**
The work I do is meaningful to me.	93%	90%
I understand how my job contributes to this institution’s mission.	94%	90%
I am proud to be part of this institution.	88%	79%

*Average percent of respondents from institutions on the Great Colleges Honor Roll who responded with either “Strongly Agree” or “Agree” to each belief statements. The Honor Roll comprises the best of the best – colleges named most often across the Great Colleges recognition categories.
** Average percent of respondents from institutions not recognized as Great Colleges to Work For who responded with either “Strongly Agree” or “Agree” to each belief statements.

Strategy: Provide active, transparent communication.

In a time when so many things are uncertain, it is important to provide clarity where possible.  It is also important to create a communication-rich environment so that inaccurate and unhelpful narratives are not given the space to thrive.

Best Practices:

• Foster a communication-rich environment.
  • Increase the frequency and intentionality of the communication cascade.
  • Share information as known.
  • Follow-up and close communication loops.
• Communicate clear expectations.

Great Colleges Survey Belief Statement	% Positive Honor Roll Colleges*	% Positive Not Recognized Colleges**
Changes that affect me are discussed prior to being implemented.	63%	50%
My supervisor/department chair makes his/her expectations clear.	85%	77%
Senior leadership communicates openly about important matters.	72%	55%

Strategy: Build Relationships

Of course, it is essential for leaders to be competent in the work that they do.  Additionally, decades of research have identified that an individual’s felt engagement is enhanced when their leader also cares about them “as a person.”  As the adage goes, “They don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”  Sometimes leaders express that in the current unpredictable environment they don’t have time to build relationships, when actually it is the strength of those relationships that may help the individuals, teams and ultimately the institution weather the storm.

Best Practices:

• Add a few minutes at the beginning of some meetings for conversation about “outside of work” things – something that is bringing joy, what the kids are up to, etc. Taking time for this conversation can actually bring the positive energy necessary to address the difficult work at hand.
• Have more frequent, routine check-ins.
  • Quick touchpoints for pulse checks and clarification of unhelpful, inaccurate narratives.
  • Deeper one-on-one meetings for listening and connecting.
• Provide ample opportunities for two-way communication (ask open-ended questions/practice active listening).

Great Colleges Survey Belief Statement	% Positive Honor Roll Colleges*	% Positive Not Recognized Colleges**
My supervisor/department chair actively solicits my suggestions and ideas.	83%	75%
I receive feedback from my supervisor/department chair that helps me.	82%	72%

 

Strategy: Make authentic expressions of gratitude and care part of your daily leadership practice.

Expressions of gratitude and other acts of informal recognition have long been known to be key drivers of engagement and belonging; they honor the value that each individual brings to the work they do.  They are especially important in the current environment where individuals may feel that their efforts are futile or undermined by the dynamics of the external environment.

Best Practices:

• Give genuine, specific thanks often – it can be for small acts.
• Take time to celebrate success, even as things are ending.

Great Colleges Survey Belief Statement	% Positive Honor Roll Colleges*	% Positive Not Recognized Colleges**
I am regularly recognized for my contributions.	70%	56%
My supervisor shows a genuine interest in my well-being.	88%	82%

 

Call to Action

Campus leaders cannot prevent the disruption caused by continuous, overlapping change, but can develop the skills and practices to lead through it.  In the weeks ahead, consider experimenting with one (or more!) of the following:

• Build in some personal connection time at the beginning of a team meeting.
• Develop an elevator speech that communicates your personal passion for the institutional mission.
• Find several authentic opportunities to express gratitude to those around you.
• Meet with a trusted colleague to share candidly about your experiences navigating the current higher education environment.

About Dr. Fredricka Joyner

Dr. Fredricka Joyner is a Senior Consultant at ModernThink LLC, a management consulting firm that own and operates the Great Colleges to Work For program®.  She is passionate about building tools and processes that clients can use to gain the insight from data necessary to take effective action. Collaborating with leaders and teams on culture development is at the core of her practice.

Fredricka’s resume includes more than 20 years in academia; three decades in business consulting for companies in both the for-profit and non-profit sectors; published work in numerous journals and national and international conference presentations. She speaks on a variety of topics and often customizes presentations to meet specific client needs.