Leading in times of uncertainty

There are lots of ways to communicate your intent without compromising your position. (Image by Markus Spiske)

Out on the water, our small rowing team is waiting for a command from the coxswain.

“Gimme a minute to think,” she says. We patiently sit at oars. “Okay, port side, hold water, starboard side, give way together.” The boat begins to move.

Dealing with a large group of children is a little more challenging than a handful of adults, but an experienced teacher can quickly bring a raucous group to order using teacher vibes.

The success that a strong teacher has in calming down a group is based on her knowledge of exactly what is coming next. The students can sense her authority, so they are ready to respond.

This adds depth to the current problem in education, which is that no one knows what’s coming next. No one knows how long the current circumstances will last, exactly how the new classroom configurations (whether online or in person) will be deployed, or how well they will work. It’s all an experiment.

A teacher’s best option (which is to say, a leader’s best option), in that case, is transparency. If she is operating without a map, she can say so. The confidence that she inspires by thinking ahead can, instead, come from thinking out loud. In this way, she is building trust in her leadership by sharing exactly what she’s thinking and how her decision-making is working. She is also modeling her process as she goes, meaning that others can learn how to do what she is doing. What’s more, she can seek the input and wisdom of the group to improve the quality of the decision, which is especially important if the results of the decision directly impact the group.

Here’s an example from a typical school day (something we are all longing for). Suppose there are fifty minutes left of the school day on a Friday. The teacher says, “You’ve all worked so well today that we were hoping to go to the playground as a reward. However, it just started raining.” She pauses a moment for boos and groans. “So we’re weighing the options to decide what to do next. We have to figure it out quickly so that we have time to enjoy whatever activity we choose. What ideas do you have?”

The teacher can then talk through the ideas with the group, working out the logistics by asking follow-up questions or making her own decisions on the fly.

If this conversation doesn’t take place publicly, you might have a few minutes of restless behavior from the students while the adults confer. That can be easily recovered from, as long as you tell the students what’s going on. The problems occur when people don’t know what’s happening — and even bigger problems crop up when people begin to suspect that the leaders don’t know, either.

However, even in times of great uncertainty, a leader can address the uncertainty itself and provide context or perspective. If that leader is making decisions behind closed doors, she can later share her reasons and what the potential path forward might look like, even if no result can be guaranteed. This is what FDR did with his series of fireside chats during his presidency, in the midst of a time of great upheaval and fear.

It’s true that some teachers (and leaders) use fear to control their people in the first place. But this precludes a spirit of enthusiastic collaboration and support. It is a dead end that depends on keeping people fearful in the long term. Personally, it’s not the way I wish to conduct my classroom or my organization. It’s much more fun to make the people part of the process.

Even when a leader takes a moment to think, she can still maintain control. Her thinking is deliberate. Like the coxswain, she conveys a sense of purpose and intention even when nothing seems to be happening.

The leader is not obligated to share the rationale for her decisions; the greater the trust that her people have in her, the less this is necessary. However, to build that trust, the leader can bring the conversation into the open. Not only is this a way to build buy-in and support for the ultimate decision, but it’s also a way to cultivate the next generation of leaders.