I have been fortunate to experience so much unplanned change and uncertainty over the years that taught me some great skills. I thought I would share a few to sustain your success:

1. See the Change. The ability to see the change, tell the truth, and not fight it has served me well in my professional and personal life. I may not always like the change that is happening, but I know the sooner I notice and embrace it, the easier it is to navigate change and the stronger I am in moving through it.

2. Come together. When I have led large teams or supported others through change, the ability to succeed has always relied upon bringing others together. When I have gone through change alone, it took longer and was more challenging. When I engaged others to find a path forward and move through it together, it went quicker and was more fun.

3. Creativity is critical. There is always a better way, in any situation. I have found that resourcefulness and ingenuity turn roadblocks into anthills. Leaning into creativity is the source that opens new doors. The ability to focus on “the how” vs. the “overly positive or supremely negative,” is what has built good momentum forward and brings people together.

4. Calm Belief. Staying calm and centered is critical as you move into the unknown. I have experienced many times where others were fairly certain calamities were about to occur as we shifted into times of uncertainty and my ability to remain calm and assume positive intent with others allowed for positive steps forward. Truthfully, a few were not happy with me during these times, and I was so confident in the team and our ability to find a way forward that it allowed us to move into uncertainty and create a new and better solution than we had before. I am grateful for the ability to believe. In my experience, the ability to believe you will find a way through, that you can use your intelligence, creativity, teamwork, and resiliency to move through — is what allows others to move forward with you, and with confidence in each other to find a way that works for all.

5. Become the Learner. Embrace learning quickly, failing, and getting back up. When I let go of “the way it should be, being perfect, or doing it right,” it always opens up new and better ways of moving forward. And, when I embrace the Japanese quote on success, “Fall down seven times and get up eight,” I give myself permission to be a learner again and to focus on getting a new skill vs. getting it right. This has always led to better outcomes for me and others because it frees others to try new ideas and create better ways of moving things forward.

If you read the news right now, the world is full of calamities. However, if you believe there are many smart, talented, creative, resourceful, and good people who are out there finding solutions and moving things forward, it frees you to do what you need to do with the part of the world you are responsible for and lead your tribe through uncertainty.

I have found uncertainty to be a gift, because it releases old rules and patterns and opens up new ways of working together, new services, products, ideas, thinking, and more art and opportunities.

Embrace the uncertainty and let your creativity lead!