What to Do When Everything Feels Chaotic: Real Steps for Leaders and Workers in Uncertain Times

In a time when uncertainty feels constant and chaos can dominate the workplace, leaders and team members alike need practical strategies to stay grounded and move forward with intention. This post offers a clear, human-centered approach to navigating emotional and operational disruption—from regulating your own response to stress, to managing risk, reconnecting people to purpose, and creating space for joy. Whether you’re in charge of a team or just trying to make it through the day with clarity, this guide provides real tools to help you feel more in control, more connected, and more capable—even when the world around you isn’t.

Lesson 1: Feel It, Frame It, Lead It

Before you can support others, you need to recognize and regulate your own emotional state. This doesn’t mean ignoring your fear, stress, or uncertainty—it means noticing it, accepting it without judgment, and making a conscious choice about how to move forward. Emotional awareness is not a luxury; it’s a leadership necessity.

• Put the oxygen mask on yourself first: It’s very hard to help a disregulated team when you’re disregulated yourself. Start by noticing what you’re feeling. Acknowledge it. Then take one step to steady yourself. That might mean doing a short breathing exercise, taking a quick walk around the block, pausing to journal for five minutes, or even just shifting your focus to something simple and concrete—like answering one easy email or straightening your desk. These small actions help reset your nervous system and create the clarity and calm needed to lead well.

• All feelings are valid—but not all actions: Kindergarten teachers are the unsung masters of emotional regulation. Their classrooms are filled with tiny people having big feelings—and their job is to guide, not suppress, those emotions. Take a page from their book. You’re allowed to feel angry, anxious, or frustrated. But you don’t have to let those feelings dictate how you treat others or what decisions you make.

🧭 When I work with leaders or teams navigating emotionally charged situations, I often guide them to pause and ask: What is the unmet need beneath this feeling? Identifying that need allows us to move forward with clarity and purpose. One helpful framework is to ask yourself—or your team—Do I need to be Heard, Helped, or Hugged? Making this distinction can radically improve communication, reduce frustration, and build mutual understanding:

• Heard: You need to say what you’re feeling and have someone truly listen, without advice or fixes.

• Helped: You want practical support or problem-solving to move things forward.

• Hugged: You’re seeking emotional reassurance, empathy, or connection.

• Venting is not the same as being Heard. Unchecked venting spreads emotional dysregulation and often becomes a substitute for action, eroding team morale and inhibiting high-quality decision-making. Expressing emotion is healthy. But it must be paired with intentional reflection and forward momentum.

• Get curious before you react: Uncertainty breeds assumptions, and assumptions breed panic. When you find yourself spiraling into a worst-case scenario, ask: What do we actually know? What don’t we know? What questions could we ask? Sometimes, the thing you’re afraid of is smaller (or stranger or more solvable) than it first appears. As a wise friend recently told me, “Never waste the opportunities a crisis presents to you.”

Lesson 2: Everyone Needs to Become a Risk Management Specialist

If everything feels risky, the solution isn’t to shut down—it’s to get smarter about how you assess and respond to risk. Here’s a simple framework anyone can use:

• Identify the risk. 🔍
  What’s the potential problem or challenge? Be specific. Is it a funding gap? A reputation issue? A cybersecurity threat? A team capacity bottleneck?

• Assess the impact. 💥
  If this risk materializes, how serious would the consequences be? Low, medium, or high? Is it a one-time issue or a recurring vulnerability?

• Evaluate the likelihood. 📊
  How likely is this to happen, based on current information? What assumptions are you making? Who else should weigh in?

• Plan your response. 🛠️
  Can this risk be avoided, mitigated, transferred (e.g., via insurance or outsourcing), or simply accepted with contingency planning?

• Assign ownership. 🎯
  Who is responsible for monitoring and managing this risk? Shared accountability often means no accountability—be clear.

💡This framework isn’t just for CEOs and finance teams—it’s a helpful mindset for every team member. When you learn to break down complexity into manageable parts, you take back control.

Lesson 3: Reconnect People to Purpose

When the external world feels uncertain, reconnecting to purpose becomes one of the most stabilizing forces in any workplace. People want to know: Does what I do matter? Am I making a difference? Are we still heading somewhere meaningful—or are we just spinning in crisis mode?

Leaders (and colleagues) can help re-ground their teams by clearly and consistently reinforcing the “why” behind the work. Don’t assume people remember it—or feel it. Say it out loud. Say it often. Tie daily work back to the mission, and don’t miss the chance to connect even the smallest tasks to the bigger picture.

At the same time, make space to acknowledge that people may feel disconnected from their usual sense of purpose—especially if their roles are shifting or if outcomes are less visible than usual. That’s okay. You don’t need to solve for that immediately. You just need to name it and invite people back in. Here are a few ways to bring purpose back into focus:

• Reaffirm the mission: Not as a tagline, but as a lived commitment. In meetings, in written updates, in casual check-ins—remind people what we’re here for and why it matters.

• Connect people to outcomes: Share stories, data, or client impact—whatever makes the work feel real. Show how individual effort contributes to collective success.

• Invite reflection: Ask your team: What part of your work feels meaningful right now? What do you wish felt more connected? These questions can spark powerful insight—and action.

• Avoid disaster talk: Catastrophic thinking is contagious. Instead of entertaining worst-case scenarios, focus conversations on what’s possible, what’s working, and what you can control.

• Make space for joy (and a little laughter): Purpose doesn’t have to feel heavy. Find ways to bring levity into the workplace—inside jokes, quick wins, small celebrations, shared memes. Even in high-stakes environments, teams that laugh together tend to be more resilient and collaborative. Don’t underestimate the power of humor and lightness to help people feel more human—and more hopeful.

💡When people feel like they count, their work counts, and the mission still matters, it becomes much easier to move forward—even through ambiguity.

Conclusion

The world may feel uncertain—but you can still choose how to show up in it. Even when the path ahead is unclear, you’re not powerless. With the right mindset, a few simple tools, and a commitment to reconnecting with what matters, you can move forward with clarity and purpose. And you don’t have to do it alone. Coaching is one meaningful way to build support around you—a space to pause, reflect, and reframe—so you can lead more intentionally, even in the most unpredictable times.