Leaders often feel pressure to have all the answers and execute proven strategies, even when they’re navigating uncharted territories. In reality, good leadership doesn’t come from certainty—it comes from developing a healthy mindset to lead with clarity, accountability, resilience and adaptability, especially when facing setbacks, uncertainty and inconsistent growth.
We asked seasoned entrepreneurs and coaches to share their best practices for staying authentic, open, creative and resilient—no matter what challenges arise.
Own Your Internal State
When leaders feel the pressure of uncertainty, they often perform confidently, hoping to fake it until they make it.
“Often we confuse confidence and [courage],” says Gary Montalvo, a leadership coach and former creative director. “We don’t understand that confidence comes from repeatedly doing something…. Until then, it’s just courage.”
But effective leadership begins with authenticity––owning your internal state—especially when the pressure is on. Montalvo shares an example. When he first started public speaking, he would walk up to the front of the room and start sweating profusely.
“One of my biggest moments was when… [I said], ‘Hi, my name is Gary Montalvo. I am really nervous right now. I want to make sure that I do a good job for you. I’m going to start sweating, but I have a towel right here, and if it was good enough for Luther Vandross, it’s good enough for me,’” he says.
His authenticity immediately created psychological safety within himself and the audience, he says. He wasn’t pretending––he owned his experience.
Ownership earns you greater influence, peace and longevity as a leader. Otherwise, the spotlight of leadership will amplify your blind spots and drain your energy.
“Authenticity is like air, it’s like oxygen,” says Montalvo. “And when we don’t have access to that part of ourselves, we’re just always operating with a diminished energy source, diminished capacity.”
Be Open and Honest
One of the biggest saboteurs of a healthy mindset is fear, which often shuts down candor and long-term thinking. The antidote is clarity and accountability: Honesty builds trust and, in return, trust invites honesty.
Jen Pardi-Cusick, chief executive officer of consulting collective Fennel Frameworks, says leaders often confuse selective disclosure and false positivity with professionalism.
“Part of [my] philosophy is being open and honest, because people aren’t going to wonder and be fearful about what they don’t know,” she says.
Pardi-Cusick models this by being open about decisions and creating space for her employees to express the negative, positive and neutral aspects of a situation as it evolves.
“We keep it professional still, but professional doesn’t have to mean that you put a fake sheen on everything,” she says. “It’s just part of my priority to allow people to show up as humans, not just workers.”
When honesty is the norm, decisions aren’t made from fear or confusion, she says. “Fear-based decisions… [are] typically really short-sighted and reactionary,” she adds. “A fearless response is much longer-term thinking and, additionally, more considered, proactive instead of reactive, and that all leads to a sense of safety."
By leading with transparency and allowing people to show up as their full selves, teams approach change and critical decisions with a more collaborative, long-term mindset––navigating setbacks and opportunities with confidence.
Shift Your Mental Mode
When old strategies stop working in a rapidly changing environment, the ability to recognize your internal story and shift your mindset is essential.
Jay Perry, a founding member of the International Coaching Federation (ICF), brings a “narrative intelligence” approach to shifting mindsets with his business Storysphere Central, he says. Specializing in helping leaders navigate the intersection of logic and creativity, Perry coaches clients to be more creative and resilient by pivoting between modes.
When something isn’t working, he finds it can be helpful to step back and ask: What mode am I operating in? Am I in a creative mode? Impressive mode? Focused mode? Competitive mode? He encourages his clients to pause, then experiment with switching modes. For example, what if I approached this from a playful mindset instead?
Early in his career, Perry directed an avant-garde play on a stage with a large, structural post in the middle. Instead of fighting this obstacle, he switched modes and incorporated it into the production, turning the post into a “magic source” for the performers, he says. The post forced him to shift from logic to imagination, he says, and solidified his narrative-thinking approach. “Logic works great when the landscape in the past and in the present is the same in the future,” he says. “[But] if it’s a rapidly changing situation… logic tends to be too slow.”
The ability to recognize and quickly switch between modes enables leaders to turn obstacles into opportunities and lead resilient teams.
Develop Your Imagination
With artificial intelligence both threatening and supporting our uncertain future, what uniquely human mindset can leaders deepen to be more resilient? Imagination. Humans can imagine future states that have never existed before––we don’t depend solely on logic––and this is our differentiator.
Developing our imagination is becoming even more important in the age of AI, says Adela Baker, an executive coach, the chief executive officer of Mind Coach and vice president of the ADHD Coaches Organization (ACO).
“When AI and policy shifts feel beyond our control, imagination is the uniquely human capacity that reclaims agency,” she says. “When we allow ourselves to play creatively with possibilities, it’s actually enjoyable, not just useful.”
She uses a collection of playful exercises called “Story Gym” to help executives develop and stretch their imaginations and narrative agility, “building the flexibility to generate multiple perspectives on any challenge,” she says.
She asks clients: “What’s [your] current narrative? What are the actual facts?” She then coaches them to use those facts to create new stories––starting with the most far-fetched. “Logical solutions keep us trapped in what we already know, while narrative play prepares us to be surprised,” she says. “Leaders who practice this collaboratively help teams move from helplessness to agency.”
Leading comfortably through the unknown is the most valuable mindset, but don’t wait to feel comfortable before taking action––be courageous, honest and adaptable and create new stories with your team. These mindsets will bring you more success than certainty ever could.
Featured image by Drazen Zigic/Shutterstock
