193. From Chaos to Calm: Agility that Inspires Hope

Agility is one of today’s favorite leadership buzzwords, but too often it gets reduced to simply moving faster. 

In this episode, we go beneath the buzzword to explore what true agility really means: the ability to adapt wisely and steadily in the face of uncertainty. 

Drawing on Gallup’s latest global research, we’ll look at why hope is now the number one thing people need from their leaders, and how stability and adaptability can actually fuel that hope. 

You’ll hear how leaders can calm their own stress responses, hold space for multiple futures, and model steadiness that sparks possibility,  even in the middle of change fatigue.

Connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/teri-m-schmidt/

Get 1-on-1 leadership support from Teri here: https://www.strongleadersserve.com/coaching

Set up an intro call with Teri: https://calendly.com/terischmidt/discoverycall

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
when you hear the word agility,what comes to mind?
Quick pivots, fast decisionsmoving faster than your
competition.
Today we're continuing ourseason theme of going beneath
the buzzwords and focusing onagility.
And the last few weeks we'vegone beneath meaningful work,

(00:20):
avoidance of difficultconversations and recognition.
Now focusing on agility.
If we look back, the truth isagility didn't start as a
leadership buzzword back in theearly 1980s.
It was defined in businesssimply as the ability to react
quickly to rapidly changingcircumstances.

(00:41):
At first glance, that mightsound just like speed, but true
agility has never been aboutmoving fast just for the sake of
it.
Agility has always meantresponding wisely and
effectively to change withbalance, awareness, and
direction.
Speed without steadiness createschaos.

(01:03):
Agility and contrast is aboutadapting while keeping your
footing and providing clarityfor others.
And this brings us to a paradox.
For years, Gallup's research hasshowed that the number one thing
people wanted from their leaderswas stability, but their most
recent global study foundsomething even bigger.

(01:23):
What most people need from theirleaders today is hope that makes
sense In our current environmentwhen we're facing disruption
from ai, economic volatility,and what many people call change
fatigue.
People don't just want stabilityanymore.
They want to believe there's away forward worth striving for.

(01:45):
So as leaders, we're challengedto do two things at once,
provide stability andadaptability, while also casting
a hopeful vision of the future.
That's why I really wanted to gobeneath the buzzword of agility,
because agility isn't aboutgoing faster.
It is about becoming the kind ofleader who can stay grounded in

(02:07):
the storm, adapt wisely andspark hope in others when
they're weary from change.
So let's get into it.
I'm Terry Schmidt, executive andleadership Coach at Strong
Leaders Serve, where I work withcompassionate driven leaders to
transform potential intoperformance.
And this is the Strong LeadersServe Podcast.

(02:44):
Okay, so let's look at thebuzzword versus reality.
So agility often gets tossedaround in leadership circles as
a kind of catchall for do morefaster, but in practice it looks
different.
Have you ever worked for aleader who tried to embody
agility by launching newinitiatives or projects?

(03:05):
Every time something in yourenvironment changed, or maybe
every time they came up with anew idea or saw a shiny new
object out there, how did itfeel?
What impact did it have on yourteam?
You probably experienced somewhiplash, and instead of feeling
agile, I'm guessing you feltdemotivated, exhausted, and

(03:30):
insecure.
Agility doesn't mean constantchange.
It means being able to adaptwithout losing your footing, and
that's where stability andagility come together.
That's where you can takeadvantage of the iteration
collaboration and responsivenessthat agility offers while not

(03:51):
burning out your team.
So how can you be a leader whoembraces and displays agility
without causing whiplash andchange fatigue?
How do you build this steadinesswhile also sparking hope?
Here are three practices andthey go much deeper than surface
level advice because like withall great leadership practices,

(04:13):
the skill development starts bylooking inside and figuring out
how you as a leader need to growto be able to effectively
execute on that skill.
So the first practice going fromthreat to possibility.
When uncertainty hits, ourbrains are wired to see it as a

(04:34):
threat.
The amygdala fires up, ourstress response kicks in, and
suddenly our options feelnarrower.
That's not a character flaw, andit doesn't just happen to you.
It's actually biology.
So reframing uncertainty aspossibility isn't about snapping
your fingers and changing yourmind and fixing your mindset.

(04:57):
It's about calming your nervoussystem, so reframing even
becomes possible.
That might mean pausing tobreathe before responding to an
anxiety spiking email.
Grounding yourself in a valuebigger than the stressor or
simply naming what your body isexperiencing.
Only after that steadiness, canyou ask, what else could this

(05:20):
mean?
What else could be possiblehere?
That's the seed of hope.
Opening space to imaginepossibility where others see
only threat.
The second practice has to dowith scenario thinking.
When leaders are stressed, thebrain wants certainty.

(05:41):
I don't know about you, but Ilove to have one clear plan.
One safe answer, but trueagility means holding multiple
possibilities at once.
Scenario thinking isn't just astrategy tool, it's training
your mind to tolerate ambiguitywithout shutting down.

(06:01):
The growth comes from resistingthe urge to collapse complexity
into one right answer.
By sketching three possiblefutures and walking your team
through them, you give stabilitybecause you've thought ahead.
Agility, because you're notlocked into one path.
And hope because people can seethat no matter what happens,

(06:23):
there are ways forward.
Forward and finally pausingBefore pivoting in our culture,
leaders often feel pressured toreact immediately.
But agility is not reactivity.
It's responsiveness.
And responsiveness after a pauseis often more effective than a

(06:45):
quick response.
This pause isn't just aboutwaiting.
It's about creating space foryour nervous system to settle,
for your values, to recenteryou.
And your perspective to widen.
That's what makes your pivotclear and thoughtful instead of
frantic.
As I've said in the past, focusis always faster than frenzy and

(07:10):
for your team, that pausecommunicates stability and
models calm.
More than that, it signals wedon't have to panic.
There's hope.
We can navigate this together.
When leaders create this kind ofagility, their teams experience
less chaos and more clarity.
Innovation flourishes becausepeople aren't afraid of failure.

(07:33):
Trust grows because followersknow that even when
circumstances shift, theirleader is a steady anchor.
That's the paradox and theopportunity.
Stability and agility aren'topposites.
They fuel each other.
But only when leaders grow theinner capacity to embody both.
So as you think about yourleadership, let me leave you

(07:55):
with a few questions forreflection.
Where in your leadership rightnow are you confusing speed with
agility?
What are you doing to give yourpeople hope to help them see
possibility when they might onlyfeel threat?
And what's one practice youcould experiment with this week
to help you stay grounded wheneverything around you is

(08:18):
shifting?
Because remember, agility isn'tabout going faster.
It's about growing deeper so youcan provide both the
adaptability your organizationneeds, and the stability your
people crave.
If you'd like to explore yourpersonal leadership growth that
will enable you to experiencethe benefits of agility while
providing stability, I'd love topartner with you.

(08:41):
Next week we'll go beneathanother buzzword to glean the
true meaning and growthnecessary for you to take
advantage of best practices inyour leadership.
If you have any buzzwords thatyou'd like us to explore, just
send me a note on LinkedIn.
Until next week courageously useyour talents to make a way for

(09:02):
others to courageously usetheirs.