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Feature BY Lesley Alderman, LCSW | April 22, 2025

Calm Amid Chaos: How to Talk to Your Team About Uncertainty

Life can be unpredictable, and we don’t like it that way.Our brains were designed for certainty. Humans look for patterns in our surroundings to form useful habits and conserve mental energy. Always have: Hunting buffalo in the winter when the animals’ coats are thick. Sowing seeds in the spring before the rains. Buying our lattes from the same reliable coffee shop week after week.These days, a lot feels unsettled: Tariffs on or off? Financial markets up or down?  Recession is possible, but who knows? The Trump administration’s disdain for DEI and ESG has upended workplace culture and hiring practices, leaving many employees confused or upset about their company’s values and practices.All this comes at a time when employee engagement is at a ten-year low. Just 31% of workers report feeling engaged, according to a Gallup survey released in January, well before the current administration began its rapid-fire changes. “Economic uncertainty remains a significant drag on the sentiment of workers as tariffs, federal funding and workforce cuts, and general business uncertainty disrupt investment and hiring plans,” wrote Glassdoor’s lead economist, Daniel Zhao in an April report.No kidding. And it could get worse. This just in from the Editorial Board at Bloomberg: “A financial crisis isn’t out of the question.”How can HR leaders and other managers respond? The first thing is to appreciate the physiology. Uncertainty rattles our nervous system. It creates a sense of ambiguity that our minds struggle with. “The stress of uncertainty, especially when prolonged, is among the most insidious stressors we experience as human beings,” said Aiofe O’Donovan, Ph.D., an associate professor of psychiatry at the UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences, back in 2020, when the pandemic was our biggest problem. Now impacting our psyches are the upending of global alliances, accepted health practices, and predictable weather patterns.Some workers are literally cracking their teeth from stress, dentists in Washington, D.C., have discovered recently. Even Slackmojis have taken a very dark turn.When our prediction-seeking brains are challenged with too many plot twists, we tend to feel threatened, scared, and overwhelmed. But there are proactive steps that leaders can take to restore some calm, promote needed focus on work, and reduce the long-term, unhealthy effects. Among them:Validate and EmpathizeHumans need to feel understood. If your workers are quietly panicking and seeking reassurance, let them know that their concerns are normal and understandable. Give them space to talk about their fears and listen to their perspective. You might see more tears during meetings or meltdowns over minor mishaps. When appropriate, remind workers about the resources the company offers, such as EAPs, employee resource groups (ERGs), mental health therapy of all kinds, and even subsidized gym memberships that might give them places to feel supported or just sweat out their anxiety. While being a careful listener may require extra effort, there’s a substantial upside: research finds that workplaces that promote candid communication tend to be more collaborative, have higher morale, and react to layoffs with more resilience.Communicate Regularly, With EmpathyKeep your workers well-informed. During uncertain times, “employees most want information about their job and the organization,” according to research by Kristine W. Powers and Jessica B.B. Diaz, academics at Claremont Graduate University. “They want psychological and instrumental support from their manager and clear, fast, and accurate communication.” If you’re making changes to programs, like DEI, explain why, as candidly as possible. If you’re keeping everything the same, tell them that, too. If your company is using silence to the outside as a strategy, then keeping your internal communications robust is even more important, writes Paul Klein, author of Change for Good: An Action-Oriented Approach for Businesses to Benefit From Solving Social Problems, in a recent Forbes article. “Use this as an opportunity to deepen your team’s understanding of the company’s purpose and impact. Develop internal newsletters, Q&As, and leadership briefings that reinforce your values. Employees are your most credible messengers. They need to know what you stand for, even if the world outside doesn’t hear as much as before.”Be prepared for pushback. Some employees might be upset that you are bending to the current political winds and may quit, rebel, or confront, as the Washington Post reported last week. Think honestly about the impact that might have on morale and staffing issues.Celebrate the ControllablesA powerful antidote to anxiety is agency. Help your workers focus on what is squarely within their control. Praise the value of their work and guide them to new projects or tasks that will give them a sense of mastery. Be clear about what they need to do and let them figure out how they can do it.  And don’t be shy about asking for feedback on matters ranging from office layout, meeting scheduling, even party planning. If you have the resources, send out a survey soliciting advice on how a specific system might be improved. When workers feel trusted and see that their feedback matters, they’ll feel like significant members of a team rather than cogs in a wheel.Fact-Check Your Own FearsTo be a good leader, you need to have a grip on your sense of uncertainty. When faced with conflicting and frightening news, it’s common to panic or catastrophize. First, ask yourself, How likely is this to happen or How real is this threat? If your honest answer is likely, then turn to trusted sources. Talk to a good friend, colleague, or manager to gain perspective.  If the threat is about the world order, consult well-reported, professional news sites for information rather than random posts on IG, X, or TikTok. One resource to help spot misinformation is Rumor Guard from the News Literacy Project, a nonprofit dedicated to teaching Americans how to discern fact from fiction and dispelling viral rumors.Take Ten—and Commend It to Your Team“Most of us are working with tired brains,” says Amit Sood, M.D., author of The Mayo Clinic Guide to Stress-Free Living. If you're getting caught up in the rapidly changing political rhetoric, take ten-minute breaks during your workday. Treat yourself to micro naps, mini nature walks, or a sound bath on Spotify—anything that will give your tired mind some time to rest and recharge. And please, don’t scrimp on sleep. This is no time to be running on empty. You need to be in good mental shape for yourself and your workers.Model Self-compassion and CuriosityWhile this might sound self-indulgent, research proves that workers who treat themselves with grace rather than punishment perform at a higher level, have less workplace stress, and are better team players. How does this look? Instead of tearing yourself down, ask: “What do I need to overcome this challenge? How can I grow from this experience? What support would help me move forward?” This is the advice of Kristin Neff, associate professor in the University of Texas at Austin's department of educational psychology, and the author of  Mindful Self-Compassion for Burnout. And apply the same level of curiosity and kindness to workers who are struggling with uncertainty, burnout, or any type of work challenge.Admit Your Mistakes and Clear the AirLeaders will make mistakes navigating the current unpredictability and they should admit their vulnerability, says Bill George, the former CEO of Medtronic and author of the classic True North leadership books. “Harvard is acknowledging it didn’t control the antisemitism on campus,” he told the Minnesota Star Tribune last week. “So let’s put that one out there. Harvard leader Alan Garber is clearly doing that. I think clearly [CEO] Mary Barra at General Motors, who was trapped with the tariffs, right now is acknowledging some of the mistakes that they made, and they’re trying to adapt to that. So I think we do see many leaders now being more vulnerable. Some are not. They’re afraid of being vulnerable. But I think when you do that, then you kind of clear the air. You have to admit your mistakes. Any leader that won’t admit their mistakes is not a real leader.Keep Track of the Good and the GreatEven during difficult times, one can find positive events and ideas to appreciate. Focus on your accomplishments and help your employees do the same. Robert Waldinger, M.D., author of The Good Life: Lessons from the World's Longest Scientific Study of Happiness, shared a humbling story in a recent blog post: “During the An Lushan Rebellion [a major uprising against the Tang Dynasty in China, 755-763 A.D.], amid so much death and destruction, there was a poet who was trapped in a town that was being destroyed. He wrote a poem called ‘The View This Spring.’ The poem is just two lines.” It goes: The nation is destroyed, mountains and rivers remain. When you find yourself consumed by worry, zoom out to the bigger picture. Take stock of your wins and the beauty in your life and world. And help your workers do the same.Lesley Alderman, LCSW, is a psychotherapist and journalist based in Brooklyn, NY. She writes about mental health topics for the Washington Post and has been an editor at Money and Real Simple magazines and a health columnist for the New York Times.(Featured photo by iStock by Getty Images)

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Sponsor Spotlight BY Jessica Swenson | April 15, 2025

Leading Transformation When There’s No Playbook

As companies continue to introduce change initiatives borne from both internal and external sources, it becomes more vital for leaders to have the ability to navigate teams through uncertainty while sustaining engagement and connection.“When we talk about transformation where there is no playbook, the previous rules about leadership and management and what you do, don’t apply,” said Carl Sanders-Edwards, CEO and co-founder of Adeption, during a thought leadership spotlight at From Day One’s Silicon Valley conference.Since the inception of desktop computing and its transition to the cloud environment, we have lived through multiple shifts in computing power and how work gets done. With the emergence of AI, we are in a new era of possibility that is again profoundly impacting jobs and workflow. Companies are leaning toward using AI to solve technical challenges and leaving more nuanced work for humans.Technical vs. Adaptive ChallengesTechnical challenges with teachable processes, a defined path, and known solutions are a bit clearer, but novel, or adaptive, challenges often haven’t been done before and have no known solution. The problem and the solution may be intertwined and need to be separated before progress is made; experimentation and learning will likely be required from everyone involved. A significant percentage of change efforts fail, Edwards says, because organizations treat adaptive challenges the same way they treat technical challenges. “One of the greatest things we can give the leaders and the people that we serve in our field is letting them know about the distinction between these two things, and there are different approaches for different types of challenges,” he said.Edwards acknowledges that success isn’t as linear as we may think; it isn’t as simple as taking data in, responding with action, and receiving a result. There is a hidden step between data receipt and response where the data is filtered through our mindset and influences emotion, which in turn influences our response. “We see the world as we are, not it as it is. And we're always projecting ourselves onto the world,” he said. Harnessing these unconscious mindsets is one key to effectively managing and resolving an adaptive challenge. This type of challenge appears resistant to teachable techniques because we are using prior experience and knowledge to solve something that is completely new. However, the overarching, high-level suggestions that come from our unconscious mindsets can help teams to progress on adaptive challenges.Carl Sanders Edwards, CEO and co-founder of Adeption, led the thought leadership spotlight Citing the example of a Silicon Valley company experiencing a decline in sales, Edwards outlined a few mindsets that might be helpful in that type of adaptive situation. A product expert mindset might focus solely on product perfection and attempt to make the product better. An achiever mindset may set goals and enforce attainment, promote training, or recommend more sales people. A transformative mindset may introduce new systems, while a marketing awareness mindset would avoid negative market impact by changing the product’s pricing model from subscription to consumption-based.Identify, Refine, and Apply Unconscious MindsetsWhen we have experiences, we create stories (good or bad) and those stories become a part of our unconscious mindset. By adding deliberate reflection and speaking with another person about it, says Edwards, we can refine that story to heighten our awareness, accelerating the ability to create and access these mindsets for future problem-solving.This is the origin of Adeption’s B3 leadership development methodology, which promotes habit-based learning in the flow of work. During his session, Edwards invited audience members to consider a challenge of their own through this lens and think about anything they might be able to do differently once the session ended:Be conscious. Reflect and make sense of the current situation you’re in. What’s important? What’s working? What isn’t?Be curious. Gain inspiration from other perspectives, ideas, and tools. Can any of the concepts learned today help with your challenge?Be better. Deliberately experiment with new ways of leading in response to what currently matters, learning from success and failure.Over 80,000 people have used this methodology to plan 500,000+ deliberate actions. Leadership struggles were reduced by 54%, 360° scores were impacted (others noticed an increased ability to empathize), and this method appears to accelerate progress on resolving adaptive challenges.It is helpful for people to understand their own unconscious mindsets and grow their range, Edwards says. Assessments are available for individuals to identify their predominant mindset, including an Adeption assessment that also allows users to “try on” other mindsets. People have seen new things that seemed to be hiding in plain sight after trying alternative mindsets.Edwards notes that the skill to develop skills is very important for future leaders. He said “I also think that the disruption that we’re facing now is not a doom and gloom situation. It’s actually a once-in-a-generation opportunity to create the type of leadership we need in this world.”Editor’s note: From Day One thanks our partner, Adeption, for sponsoring this thought leadership spotlight.Jessica Swenson is a freelance writer based in the Midwest. Learn more about her at jmswensonllc.com.(Photos by David Coe for From Day One)

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What Our Attendees are Saying

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“The panels were phenomenal. The breakout sessions were incredibly insightful. I got the opportunity to speak with countless HR leaders who are dedicated to improving people’s lives. I walked away feeling excited about my own future in the business world, knowing that many of today’s people leaders are striving for a more diverse, engaged, and inclusive workforce.”

– Jordan Baker, Emplify
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“Thank you, From Day One, for such an important conversation on diversity and inclusion, employee engagement and social impact.”

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“Timely and much needed convo about the importance of removing the stigma and providing accessible mental health resources for all employees.”

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“Great discussion about leadership, accountability, transparency and equity. Thanks for having me, From Day One.”

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“De-stigmatizing mental health illnesses, engaging stakeholders, arriving at mutually defined definitions for equity, and preventing burnout—these are important topics that I’m delighted are being discussed at the From Day One conference.”

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