Leading your team when the path is unclear.
- meganjbrummel
- Nov 3
- 3 min read
Updated: 6 days ago
Here we are! Getting to the end of the year and I’m sure you’ve already been in or plan to attend strategic planning meetings for 2026.
But if you’re in the middle of change (a team reorganization, the integration of a new system or business area, the expansion of your market), you might not know exactly what to plan for.
The strategic meetings or conversations might feel like a waste of time because what you and your team spend time planning for might be irrelevant in two months.
If this sounds like you, don’t wait to have a conversation! While you might not be able to plan all the specifics, here are a few ways you can lead your team into the next year, especially when the destination or road is still a bit fuzzy.
First, having a consistent flow of communication and information sharing between you and your team is critical during change. One way you can do this by having a check in with your team using the questions below to identify some of the most important areas you might want to address as you move through the change. Start with your Leadership Team and do it in a round robin fashion.
If you have strategic planning meetings or conversations planned for your broader team, provide a survey and hold a town hall. The survey will highlight important points you can plan to speak to and gives the broader team time to reflect and formulate their thoughts to more effectively participate in the town hall.
This exercise is time to vent, be heard, for you to provide what information you do know, for you to hone in on information that will assist in how you lead your team through the change, and it enhances connection, understanding, and trust.
Questions for your team:
What is happening for you during this time? Let them answer this naturally without providing a specific context. See what contexts come up for them- this is good information. If they ask for a context, tell them to answer it within “all contexts.”
What’s the impact of that?
What do you need?
How can I help?
What are your areas for improvement right now?
What suggestions do you have for me?
Take stock of what you and your leadership team does know and who it needs to be communicated to (you might need to do this more than once as more information about the change comes in):
What’s currently happening in the organization? (Operationally, sales, resources, financially, etc.)
Note any critical challenges the business is facing
Then, when it comes to your current plan to address the changes, what’s still relevant? What needs to change and how?
What and who needs to be communicated to? In what way?
What systems and resources are needed to support the strategy?
What initiatives will drive the most value?
What do we need to start and/or stop doing?
What opportunities do we see?
How do we hear from key stakeholders?
The most important one? Stay resilient. Encourage your team to embrace the change by supporting resilience practices. Have each person assess, on a scale of 1-10, where they’re at within Insights Discovery’s Eight Resilience factors below and where they might need to focus some effort (1 is poor, 10 is great). Then share where each of you is and ask how the team can support one another in the lowest-ranked resilience factor.
Remember, change is external, but the transition through the change is an internal (emotional) process. Leaning into self-awareness conversations during this time is key to addressing and assisting with the internal transition process.
Tactics and strategy are good too, but don’t let things like emotional intelligence, supportive behaviors, and human connection fall to the wayside. In fact, it’s conversations like these that help on the tactical and strategic side of navigating change.
Could your team use some support as you navigate unknowns this coming year?
Subscribe to our blog for more helpful tips, and/or feel free to send an email to info@wayfindersleadership.com with your situation or questions you might have to see if we can provide you and your team the support you need.
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