By Miranda Greenwold,
When circumstances are unpredictable, leaders can feel pulled in multiple directions—making decisions with incomplete information, managing team anxieties, and quickly assessing organizational risk.
Emotional intelligence (EQ) becomes the anchor as it allows leaders to pause, reflect, and respond intentionally rather than reactively. It helps them assess situations with composure, communicate with empathy, and create environments where their teams feel supported, safe, and motivated to contribute—even when outcomes are unclear.
While technical expertise and strategic planning remain critical, it is emotional intelligence that often determines whether leaders can successfully guide their teams through turbulent times.
8 Key Elements of Emotional Intelligence
1. Self-Awareness
Leadership begins with understanding oneself. In ambiguous situations, self-awareness provides clarity around emotional triggers, thought patterns, and biases that might cloud judgment.
Leaders with high EQ employ strategies for developing greater awareness of their inner dialogue and how this awareness strengthens their leadership presence.
2. Confidence and Self-Regulation
Confidence is not about always having the answers—it is about trusting in your ability to navigate what comes next. Self-regulation allows leaders to stay composed under pressure, balancing optimism with realism.
Leaders need tools for strengthening both, ensuring that they project stability and calm in the midst of ambiguity.
3. Empathy and Critical Conversations
Ambiguity often breeds anxiety. Empathetic leaders acknowledge this by listening deeply and creating space for candid dialogue.
Leaders with high EQ approach difficult conversations with authenticity, empathy, and accountability—skills that preserve trust while addressing challenges directly.
4. Assessing Risk in Uncertain Environments
Decision-making in uncertain times rarely comes with perfect data. Leaders must weigh potential risks and benefits while remaining transparent about unknowns.
Leaders need a framework for evaluating risk when information is incomplete and for involving teams in thoughtful, collaborative decision-making.
5. Embracing the Discomfort of Not Knowing
One of the hardest leadership skills is accepting ambiguity without rushing toward premature certainty. Emotional intelligent leaders know how to lean into the discomfort of not having all the answers and how to model resilience and openness for their teams.
6. Developing a “Learn-It-All” Mindset
In uncertain times, curiosity becomes a superpower. A “learn-it-all” mindset fosters adaptability, innovation, and continuous improvement. Emotional intelligence helps leaders replace perfectionism and rigidity with an orientation toward learning and growth.
7. Zooming Out for a Systematic View
Leaders can easily become consumed by immediate pressures. They need to zoom out, considering the broader systems at play and how small decisions ripple outward.
Seeing the big picture allows leaders to identify patterns, anticipate shifts, and align teams around shared goals.
8. Fostering Psychological Safety
Innovation and resilience thrive in cultures where people feel safe to speak up, take risks, and learn from failures. Emotional intelligent leaders build that psychological safety within teams—laying the groundwork for trust, collaboration, and adaptability when times are uncertain.
Build Your Emotional Intelligence Skills Through Professional Development
The new Skills Accelerator: Emotional Intelligence for Leading Through Uncertainty, is designed specifically for working professionals in leadership positions who are navigating the pressures of rapid change.
It is designed to provide a practical framework for developing the inner strength, adaptability, and relational skills that enable leaders not only to survive uncertainty but to lead others with clarity and confidence.
This Skills Accelerator explores the competencies of emotional intelligence that are most essential in uncertain times, translating theory into actionable practices that leaders can use immediately.
The Skills Accelerator will provide participants with:
- A personal emotional toolkit for navigating ambiguity with calm and clarity
- Strategies to engage in difficult yet productive conversations
- A framework for making confident decisions when information is incomplete
- Approaches for strengthening team trust and resilience
- Techniques to reframe uncertainty as a catalyst for growth and learning
Whether you’re guiding a small team or leading a large organization, the ability to demonstrate emotional intelligence during uncertain times is a skill that will distinguish you as a steady, trusted leader with the ability to make an impact.
Miranda Greenwold is an educator and marketing strategist who helps business leaders, executives, and students blend data-driven insights with creative problem-solving to make confident, strategic decisions. Currently serving as an Assistant Professor of Marketing at Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota, Miranda also supports organizations in building and operationalizing mission-centered brand strategies through her independent consulting practice. Miranda earned her Doctor of Business Administration from Trevecca Nazarene University, her Master of Arts in International Relations from Norwich University, and her Bachelor of Science in Marketing from Marian University.