The CEOs Who Thrive in Uncertainty Are Doing These 3 Things Differently

In today’s fast-changing world, uncertainty is the only constant. Economic shifts, technological disruptions, and geopolitical tensions are forcing CEOs to navigate an unpredictable landscape. While some leaders struggle to adapt, others seem to thrive, making bold moves and positioning their companies for long-term success.

What sets these resilient CEOs apart? They aren’t just reacting to change, they’re embracing it. Here are three key strategies they use to stay ahead of the curve.

1. Prioritizing Agility Over Perfection

Traditional leadership focuses on long-term planning, perfect execution, and minimizing risk. But in uncertain times, waiting for the “perfect” strategy is a recipe for stagnation. Thriving CEOs understand that adaptability is more valuable than perfection.

• They encourage rapid decision-making based on available data rather than endless analysis. This is  easier said than done.  Rapid decision-making demands risk-taking, it demands trust and faith between the stakeholders.  While we can never have full information we need to have as much information as possible.  When people hide the financial reality of their teams and their team’s performance – it is very difficult for CEOs to make good decisions.  Rapid decision making takes courage and faith in one’s own ability.  Working recently with a CEO who was struggling to meet a key strategic goal, I asked about how he allocated his precious time (a scarce resources for any CEO) time.  “What are the vital strategic things” I asked, “that only you can do?”.

  The answer came to him easily but was far from his conception of the traditional role of a CEO.  He then had the courage  to take the non-obvious route, delegate to others  and ensure that the people to whom he had delegated delivered.  All of this was accomplished quickly as was the stellar strategic target.

• They build agile teams that can pivot quickly, whether it’s a shift in market demand or a supply chain disruption.

  People are complicated.  Team dynamics are also complicated.  Top CEO’s build agility into their teams and their people.  This takes time, coaching and team development.  A team jolly or boozy night out can form bonds but little or no personal development.  Outstanding CEOs are prepared to invest in their key people and in the dynamics of the team.  They are prepared to assuage any resistance and insist that people grow in personal maturity and insight and that teams develop transparency and trust.

  This  takes time which most people think they don’t have.  But if you want to run a marathon you train.  If you want to excel in challenging times, you grow your teams one person at a time and as a collective.   This takes courage, strength and faith.

• They experiment with new ideas, launching pilot projects and iterating based on feedback rather than waiting for a fully polished solution.  I love the mantra of the young entrepreneurs – Fail fast to learn fast.   The old axiom No risk no return comes to mind.  When we are learning to ride a bike, we fall off, we get up and get back on – that’s how humans learn and in our changing world it is the capacity to learn and grow that takes individuals and teams from mediocre to outstanding.

2. Leveraging Data for Real-Time Insights

In uncertain times, CEOs combine both the power of data and their finely tuned intuition to make informed, strategic decisions.

They invest in predictive analytics to identify emerging trends and potential risks before they become crises. I was once asked by a World Economic Forum group to run a seminar on Identifying faint environmental signals for change.  While this demanded getting the best data available it went way further.  Who (for instance) predicted that COVID would hit and had the data ready to capitalize on the change?   A Jan 18 Forbes article by Christian Stadler reported that there were many big winners out of COVID:

1 Moderna (a developer of vaccines) saw a stock rise of 937%.
2 Enphase Energy (which designs soft-ware driven home energy solutions) had a   stock hike of 366%.
and
3 NVIDIA (which makes chips for gaming, mobile banking, and automotive markets) had a stock growth of 322%.

You might think this was about being the right place at the right time- but there was more.  Having the right product helps but great CEOs can get that product to market quickly.  This takes great analytics, great leadership and an agile company culture.

They use AI and automation to improve efficiency and free up human talent for high-value problem-solving.  The rate of development in AI is mind boggling.  Great CEOs are on top of this.  However, the best AI tools in the world don’t compensate for inefficient and ineffective company performance.

Great CEOs are constantly growing their own consciousnesses so that they have the courage to face reality full on, the sensitivity to intuit changes in real time and the strength to think outside accepted norms, find creative answers and implement them.

CEOs who thrive during change prioritize transparency, ensuring that key decision-makers across the organization have access to real-time insights. Then take personal responsibility for stepping up in ways demanded by the situation as it evolves. This necessitates that leaders are supporting their people to learn and grow (personally as well as professionally). One of my clients, when taking the position of MD of a global oil company, was puzzled to find that each division measured their drilling opportunities using different metrics.  This made it impossible for the CEO to make sensible investment decisions across all global assets. We standardized measurement systems across the globe and undertook intensive team building to ensure that the figures that were delivered were the truth and came from an enterprise-wide perspective.  This led to a 375% increase in net earnings and a 300% increase in stock value.

3. Fostering a Resilient Culture

Clever, resilient, stand out leaders know that strategy is 5% thinking & 95% execution, and that strategy execution is 5% technical and 95% people related.  Therefore, CEOs who thrive in uncertain times prioritize building a resilient and adaptable workforce.

• They cultivate a culture of innovation, where employees feel empowered to test new ideas and challenge the status quo. This takes both challenge and safety.  People need to be motivated to step up and take risks and feel sufficiently safe that mistakes will be used as learning experiences.  This is not to excuse poor performance.

  Performance needs to be tightly managed and measured and non-performers need to be trained and/or removed.  The mantra here is Grow or go.  When poor performers are kept it demotivates the whole company.  However when people see that you can be human, make human mistakes and grow through them this becomes a symbol of effective performance and encourages people to test out new options and think outside the current box.

• They invest in upskilling and reskilling, ensuring their workforce stays ahead of industry shifts. Upskilling in our rapidly changing world is essential – however it is not sufficient.  We know that 63% of adults think at lower levels of adult brain development.  This means that are either highly narcissistic (5%) or what are rudely called “sheeples”(58%).  Ie. They resist change (some research says they would rather die than change) The real jewels in times of uncertainty and rapid change are the 35% of people who are alternatively called Cultural Creatives, self-authoring or independent thinkers.

  These people have enough sense of self to be personally sustainable during change and have the courage to think clearly, step out of current norms and create future success.  Great CEO’s find these people and invest in them – not just their skills but their personal development.  This then opens up the possibility of the Sheeples wanting to grow (because they are following the winners).

• They lead with transparency and empathy, keeping employees informed and engaged even in turbulent times.  When you treat people like adults, they are more likely to behave like adults.  I was once asked by a national division of a global IT company to help them increase their sales figures.  They were (when they approached me) missing all their targets.  We worked with the leadership team and then the top 100 people leaders to think outside the box, increase their motivation and then perform (they eventually outpaced all other global divisions).  This process started to take flight when the leadership team agreed to share all the figures with the top 100 who were used to being told they weren’t performing but not entrusted with real company data.

  Realizing  that the unconscious mind is 1 million times more powerful (and faster) than the conscious mind, CEOs who thrive during times of uncertainty are skillfully building  company cultures  that are transformation ready by supporting their key people to  increase their consciousness and thus their creativity, their sensitivity to change and the courage to step ahead of the crowd.

Take Microsoft under Satya Nadella’s leadership. By shifting the company’s culture from a rigid, competitive environment to one that embraced learning and collaboration, Microsoft transformed itself into a tech powerhouse once again.

Final Thoughts 

Uncertainty isn’t going away, it’s accelerating. The CEOs who thrive aren’t those who resist change, but those who embrace it with agility, data-driven decision-making, and a resilient workforce. They are aware that raising their and their people’s consciousness is strategically smart so they role model personal growth and support their staff to follow suit.

Whether you’re leading a startup or a Fortune 500 company, these strategies aren’t just for surviving uncertainty, they’re for turning it into a competitive advantage.

What’s your take? Have you seen leaders successfully implement these strategies? 

Written by Margot Cairnes.
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