Learning to Lead through Uncertain Times

Learning to Lead through Uncertain Times

LISA PORTER

Leadership is most often framed in terms of strategy, decisiveness, and outcomes. We are taught to bring order to complexity and to move forward with clarity. These elements matter, but they are only part of the picture. Over time, and through experience (sometimes difficult experience), I’ve come to appreciate the amount of true work that leaders need to put into emotional intelligence.

Effective leaders understand that emotional intelligence doesn’t mean an absence of emotion, conviction or urgency. Rather, they truly understand emotion, and channel it in a way that supports both people and good decision-making. This involves using self-awareness and awareness of others to shape how we show up, especially when the path forward is uncertain.

For me emotional intelligence had to be learned, and continues to be learned, through practice. Practice means navigating real situations imperfectly, sometimes through discomfort, reflection, and moments where I did not get it right.

Lisa Porter

Page 2

Learning Through Others — and Through Missteps Early in my career, I worked with a student who had recently arrived in Canada from a region experiencing political unrest. At the time, I approached mentorship in the way many early-career academics do — focused on the work: experiments, outputs, expectations.

Only gradually did I begin to understand what she was navigating outside the lab: fear for her physical and mental safety, uncertainty about her future, and pressures I had never experienced myself. What I missed early on was not a lack of care. I had a lack of awareness.

Supporting her required listening differently, adjusting expectations, and recognizing that success is not always measured on the same timeline for everyone. With time and support, she thrived. Today, she holds a senior leadership role.

Her story stayed with me — not because it was unique, but because it wasn’t. Over the years, I’ve worked with many students whose lives were impacted by circumstances outside of the university. Their resilience has exceeded anything I have faced in my own career. At the same time, those experiences forced me to confront my own limitations as a leader.

Lisa Porter

Page 3

A Career Shaped by Imperfection My own career has not followed a straight path. There have been periods of uncertainty when decisions were unclear, when outcomes did not unfold as expected, and when I had to learn, sometimes uncomfortably, in real time.

More recently, I have been part of situations where decisions had to be made quickly, and not all of them were the right ones. Those moments stay with you. They prompt reflection not only on the choices made, but on how you showed up — how you carried yourself and how you supported others through uncertainty.

Leadership is not measured during times of stability. It is revealed when the stakes are high, the path forward is unclear and what matters most is the ability to reflect, take responsibility and move forward with greater clarity and care.

Lisa Porter

Page 4

Seeing What Isn’t Always Visible — In Others and Ourselves After years of working with students and teams, one pattern has been consistent: people are carrying more than we realize. In today’s world many are dealing with geopolitical crises, trauma, identity-based challenges, or uncertainty about their future and a sense of belonging.

These experiences do not stay outside the workplace — they impact how people engage, contribute, and perform.

There is a parallel truth that is less often acknowledged: as leaders, we are also dealing with our own challenges and uncertainty. These two realities are not separate. When we do not own our own challenges, struggles, or mistakes, it becomes harder to truly see and support those of others. Added to this are layers of bureaucracy, competing priorities and archaic systems that reward processes over people. These pressures can be distracting, pulling attention away from what matters most: the people who collectively make the work happen.

Lisa Porter

Page 5

Making Space for What Matters More and more I am seeing that in uncertain times leadership is less about control and more about humility, consistency and accountability.

Trust is not built on perfection. The environments we create, especially in the face of imperfect systems, are shaped by what we choose to own, where we put our energy, and what we choose to let define us.

To me, empathy matters, but it must be grounded in listening rather than assumption.

Flexibility matters, not as a lowering of expectations, but as a recognition that people move through difficult periods at different paces.

Transparency and truth matter. Being open about mistakes, especially in moments of crisis, is not a weakness. It creates space for trust. It signals to others that they, too, can be human in the process of doing difficult work.

Making time for the small actions, like checking in, acknowledging when someone needs to be seen or when you got something wrong, and following up, will have lasting impact. Strong leadership also requires knowing when small actions are not enough: when we need to step in with additional support, advocate for individuals or challenge systems that are not serving people well. If leaders are willing to listen, to be transparent, and to adjust — we can create environments where people can do their best work and show up fully, even in difficult circumstances.

Lisa Porter

Page 6

Marketing Strategies The students and colleagues I’ve worked with, many of whom have faced uncertainty far greater than my own, have formed my knowledge of leadership more than any formal training ever could.

What I continue to learn is that leadership is not about separating our own challenges from those of others. Both exist, and both matter. The work is in recognizing that reality and leaning into it — making thoughtful decisions, owning the risk of getting it wrong, and not using process or policy as a shield from prioritizing people.

When people feel safe, respected, needed, and understood, something shifts in how they show up. That shift does not happen by chance. It depends on leaders who are willing to see clearly, reflect honestly, and lead with humility and care.

Lisa Porter

Page 7