Let me open with a story from my client Sophie, a senior leader in an e-commerce retailer. When we’d met Soph had mapped out the year with precision. Launch timelines and a beautifully colour-coded calendar, team milestones, and had a strategy she felt proud of (and she’d just navigated the twists and turns of getting sign off from the Exec). But within months, supply chain delays, a key hire backing out, and a major client pulling their contract threw everything into disarray. Each time Sophie adjusted the plan, something else shifted. Her team, once energised and focused, now seemed scattered and flat. Sophie found herself second-guessing every decision, caught in back-to-back crisis meetings, and emotionally drained from holding it all together. She wasn’t managing change, she was firefighting. And the pressure was making her question whether she could keep leading her team through so much uncertainty. Or when it would end.

Most of us are change weary. You’ve had to pivot so many times the word ‘change’ itself now signals instant eye-rolling. You’re constantly unlearning, relearning, staying relevant and trying to keep up. All while keeping your team engaged and yourself steady. It’s exhausting. Emotionally charged. Disjointed. And when things go off track, yet again, it’s easy to feel like the wheels are about to come off.

A recent blog from Holly Ransom got me thinking about how change weary we all are and how I can best support leaders in their position with my perspective. Holly shared these alarming
stats:

• 73% of HR leaders report employee change fatigue
• And 90% say their managers aren’t effectively helping employees navigate it (2025 Gartner HR Priorities Survey)
• More than half of workers feel like there’s too much change happening at once
• Nearly half say their workload has increased significantly in the last 12 months (PwC Global Workforce Survey)

In leadership and business, we often celebrate the strategic plan. The vision. The goals. The steps from A to B to C. It consumes months of planning and detail. But the truth is, very little in life or work moves in a neat, straight line. As much as we love a good roadmap, things rarely go to the plan we’ve set. When I am working with leaders and teams, instead of only preparing for success, I get them prepared to be just as ready for disruption (or at a minimum, not get surprised by it). And how to build the energy reserves, honesty and trust to stay connected as a team when sh*t hits the fan.

The leaders who thrive aren’t the ones with the perfect plan. They’re the ones who expect bumps, hold steady through uncertainty, and guide their teams with trust and connection. Even when it’s blow after blow.

Rachel Botsman who writes powerfully about trust, describes it as: “a confident relationship with the unknown.” Read it again as it’s a powerful framing on trust. This type of trust is what you need when things go awry. It’s not blind belief. It’s not micromanaging every detail. It’s building the kind of relationship with your team where, even when you can’t see what’s ahead, you know you’ll figure it out – together.

And that kind of trust doesn’t just magically appear in tough times. It’s built steadily in the day- to-day. A consistency. In how you openly communicate. In how you respond to mistakes or shifts in direction. In how you celebrate wins, and in how you navigate pressure.

I love Dan Coyle’s successful teams’ model. I use it when I am called in to work with a team. It’s repetitively shown to work. He breaks it down into three core ingredients: Safety, Vulnerability and Purpose. These aren’t warm and fuzzy aspirations. They’re powerful signals that help teams stay connected and focused amongst the chaos. They’re all well-known principles. How Dan breaks them down as behavioural signals is where their power lies.

• Safety is about creating an environment where people feel free to speak up, ask questions, and challenge ideas without fear. It’s all founded in our sense of belonging, that you can be yourself at work. In the hard and challenging times and when things are working out. If safety is tended to, signals of connection are being consistently sent.
• Vulnerability (a misunderstood phrase in the workplace!) means modelling openness. Not rolling in the corner in a crying mess. Sharing uncertainty, asking for help, admitting when you’re stuck – all traits of excellent leaders. People need clarity. On what is affecting them, their role, and a (temporary) plan in times of change. Not full transparency on every detail. If vulnerability is tended to, sharing difficult yet clear information is the consistent signal.
• Purpose keeps everyone aligned on ‘why’ you’re doing the work in the first place, even when the ‘how’ keeps shifting. If purpose is tended to, signals of direction towards meaningful work are consistently sent. These are small, consistent cues leaders give that show what matters, to keep people aligned and motivated. Reinforcing where the team are headed even when it’s messy.

When these three signals are clear and consistent, they help people orient themselves. They know they’re not alone. They’re safe to show up and do their best. And feel they’re part of something meaningful.

So, what are practical actions you can take when things go off track?

First, pause. Give yourself and your team space to acknowledge the shift. Don’t rush to fix or pivot without reflection. It adds to the emotional clutter. Get perspective on what is essential, necessary and needed. Prioritise it. Don’t try to conquer it all.

Next, reconnect. Come back to the team’s shared purpose. Invite honest conversations about what’s changed and what people need, and what matters. Use check-ins to signal that it’s safe to speak up and contribute. Whilst we’re all great at surfacing (and orientating to) the shitty stuff, don’t forget to acknowledge what is working and the team strengths.

Then, redesign the path forward, together. You don’t need to have all the answers. You do need to invite ideas, clarify the new direction, and reinforce the belief that the team can navigate it.
Finally, add some lightness. Seriously. Teams in flow are not just productive – they’re spirited.
They have energy, celebrate small wins, and keep things human. Fun is not the opposite of hard
work. It’s what sustains it (this is a constant reminder I have for myself!).

In my experience, when I’ve been down I the trenches doing the hard turn-around work, it’s when I’ve often had the most fun and built the most solid working (and lifelong) relationships.

---

Experiment a little…

When things go off track, try asking yourself and the team some of these questions to connect with the three principles of successful teams. This helps lower stress, rebuild trust, and gently move the team back into flow.

• Host a check in and have everyone share one word for how they’re feeling in their head (rational/ action-led) and heart (emotional/ feeling-led)
• What matters most to us as a team most right now?
• What is known and unknown to me/ us at the moment?  
• What is the 2-layer impact we want to have? The outcome of a program/ project/ piece of work. And on each other. 
• Does this change support the culture and outcomes we believe in?
• What is the next step to better? 
• What is one thing we can celebrate and use as motivation to stay focused?

---

Let’s go back to Sophie. Her big ah-ha came when she relinquished the illusion of her having control. Realising she couldn’t fix it all alone. Sophie called the team together. Not with answers and instructions. With honesty. She shared her own uncertainty and asked for their input on what was needed most right now. That moment of vulnerability shifted something. People opened up. Naming frustrations and then tilted towards offering ideas. Sophie began hosting weekly check-ins focused not just on tasks, but on how the team was feeling. She acknowledged the pressure they were under and reminded everyone of the bigger purpose behind their work. And made space for humour. As connection grew, so did and infectious energy to stay resilient together and trust. To this day, Sophie’s team plan is still evolving, but
they are back in sync and focused. Collaborating, problem-solving, and even finding small doses of fun in the chaos.

When things go wrong – and they will – it’s trust, not perfection, that will carry you through. It’s the relationships you’ve built, the safety you’ve nurtured, and the sense of purpose that reminds everyone what matters. Flow comes back when people feel seen, safe, and supported. When they’re not just managing change but co-creating it. And there’s always room for levity, even in the mess.