In Uncertain, Fast-Changing Times, Vision Alone Isn’t Enough

Leading through constant change can be exhausting. It’s not just the pace itself; it’s the pressure of feeling like others are looking to you to have all the answers in the midst of uncertainty. Naturally, you focus on getting the vision right: sharpening it, reinforcing it, making sure everyone’s on board. But communicating a clear direction is only half the job right now. The other half, helping your team run with it – amid more unfolding change – is where many leaders get stuck.

What we know from research: Uncertainty demands visionary leadership. But what I see with the global leaders I coach, and what the research suggests, is that a compelling vision is vital but only half of the job to lead change. It needs to be partnered with empowering behaviours like coaching, developing talent, and helping people lean into their individual strengths and motivators – all of which can feel like nice-to-haves in times of change and risk to growth.

My POV: The leaders I see performing best through change deliberately enact both visioning and empowerment. The research confirms that leaders who combine these two drive substantially stronger team performance than those who lean on either alone. Most of us favour one style instinctively. The good news is both are skills you can build and choose during change.

As a Leader, what can you do?

• Engage people in the vision before it’s finished. Share the direction you’re seeing while it’s still a work in progress, and ask your team to help shape it. ‘Here’s where I think we need to head, and why. How could this work? What alternatives are there?’ This does double duty: it sharpens the vision through their input, and it starts building the ownership your team needs to run with it themselves.
• Be curious about the team’s experience of navigating change. A simple ‘What’s felt energising this month, and what’s felt draining?’ often surfaces answers you wouldn’t expect. Then use what you learn: shift a task toward someone’s strength, or hand them more ownership of the part they find energising. That’s how you turn insight into empowerment, not just information.
• Make in-the-moment coaching conversations a leadership habit. Next time someone brings you a problem, resist the pull to solve it for them. Ask ‘What are your instincts on this?’ or ‘What would you do if I weren’t in the room?’ first. Small, consistent moments like this build capability faster than any one big conversation, and hand your team the ownership they need to run with the vision themselves.

Your team feels the shift too. They get the clarity to know where they’re headed and the ownership to run with it, which research links to stronger performance and engagement.

What difference will it make? When you pair vision with empowerment, you’ll likely notice the shift in yourself first: less pressure to have every answer, more confidence that your team can carry the vision forward without you.

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