How Leaders Can Help Their Teams Deal with Ambiguity

Ambiguity is bad. Clarity is good. But the world doesn’t always offer us clarity. We are often faced with ambiguity. The question is, how do we deal with it? I’ll answer that. Related to all of this is the relationship between leaders and followers.

I’ve often heard people criticized as “not able to deal well with ambiguity.” Have you ever said that about someone? Has anyone ever said it about you? In my opinion, it’s hard to assess that without considering the other side of the equation. What is that person’s leader doing or not doing to create clarity? That question doesn’t get asked as often.

The project is on hold

A few years ago, we had to put an important project on hold because of financial reasons. As soon as that became apparent, we assembled the project team to share the news and answer questions. Since the decision was fresh, there weren’t many satisfying answers to questions like, “when will it restart?” and “what’s our plan in the meantime?”

We committed to providing more updates frequently and involving everyone in the replanning process.

The meeting after the meeting

It takes a little bit of time for implications to sink in, and there’s always limited time for Q&A. So, before long, smaller groups gathered in various “meeting after the meeting” discussions.

I was involved in one of these discussions, where team members expressed some frustration with the ambiguity. That was understandable, but I offered this response: “What would you prefer? To be kept in the dark long enough for us to figure it out without you? Or would you like to know now, and then get involved in creating the path forward? You can’t have it both ways.”

An open communication style

Different leaders have different communication styles. Some are closed by default. They treat all information as confidential and only share what they’ve been explicitly asked to cascade. They keep the rest to themselves.

Other leaders are open by default. They share as much as they can with their teams. The only things they don’t share are items that they know are confidential. When team discussions wander into confidential areas, the leader responds, “I know the answer, but I’m not at liberty to share.” This maintains trust and keeps the leader from appearing evasive or uninformed.

Sometimes, I’ll differentiate my language to add clarity. I’ll say, “this is what I know for sure” or “this is my current opinion or interpretation at this time.” Then, my team members can know how much to stake on what I say.

Every follower I know prefers to be led by the “open by default” leadership communication style. But it has some drawbacks. It tends to create some ambiguity for teams, but not all ambiguity is equal.

For instance, it’s better to be clear on vision and mission, and ambiguous on strategy and tactics, than the other way around.

Andy Stanley has a relevant quote: “Marry your mission. Date your model. Fall in love with your vision. Stay mildly infatuated with your approach.”

From ambiguity to clarity

Our world is chaotic and increasingly so. I am often reminded of the sobering quote from Justin Trudeau: “The pace of change has never been this fast, yet it will never be this slow again.”

Leaders should not attempt to eliminate ambiguity. To do so would require authoritarian tactics and tight control over information. That’s far worse than ambiguity.

However, leaders should help their teams constantly move from ambiguity to clarity. Like a trailblazer in the forest, they find the way. As time passes, a pathway emerges.

This act builds muscle, not just in the leader, but in the whole team. They begin to expect that all things ambiguous will become clearer as they proceed. That creates confidence and mitigates the panic the next time new ambiguity arrives.

Leaders, lead the way

The next time you are in a conversation about how your team “doesn’t deal well with ambiguity” look in the mirror. Consider your communication style. Consider your leadership actions to facilitate clarity and involve them in the process.

Yes, the world will only get more ambiguous, and in some ways, our team members will just have to suck it up and deal with it, but leaders have a role to play in making this a whole lot easier to navigate. Play your part well and your team will probably surprise you. Before you know it, you’ll be out of the woods.

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