Cultivating Steadiness in a Rapidly Changing Workplace
Steady leadership as a practice
Leadership in 2026 is unfolding inside sustained change.
Across industries, leaders are navigating environments shaped by emerging technologies, ongoing disruption, and very real human concern about what lies ahead. The pace rarely eases. Decisions are made with incomplete information. The emotional tone of work is often charged long before a meeting begins.
Recent research continues to reflect what many executives already feel in their bodies. Studies from Gallup show rising levels of stress and burnout among managers and senior leaders, even as expectations for performance and adaptability increase. McKinsey & Company reports that the volume of organizational change leaders are navigating has grown significantly over the past decade, with little indication that it will slow.
For leaders and executives in Seattle and spanning the world, these conditions are far from abstract. They are present in boardrooms, hybrid teams, and day-to-day decision-making.
In this landscape, steadiness is essential.
What we are paying attention to is a growing shift toward capacity: the human ability to remain relational and clear while change continues to move around us. Leaders are increasingly asked to steady the system through how they show up inside it. This is especially true for executive leaders, people managers, and those responsible for guiding teams through ongoing transformation.
This is the first of six leadership themes shaping the workplace in 2026. Each names a set of conditions leaders are already navigating and the practices required to meet those conditions with care.
This post introduces the first theme: Cultivating steadiness in a rapidly changing workplace.
Steadiness as orientation
For many leaders, stability once came from plans, timelines, and predictive models. In today’s environment, those anchors are less reliable. The context shifts faster than strategies can keep up. New information regularly reframes earlier decisions.
Leadership development conversations increasingly point to this gap. Insight alone does not create steadiness. Tools alone do not create steadiness. What leaders need is orientation.
Steady leadership helps teams locate themselves within change rather than feeling swept along by it.
Orientation answers the quieter questions that sit beneath strategy:
What are we paying attention to right now?
What matters in this moment?
How are we deciding together?
When leaders offer orientation, they reduce confusion or frustration even when outcomes remain unsettled. Teams can move with greater coherence because they understand the ground they are standing on. This is a critical capacity for executive leadership teams navigating the often rocky waters of restructuring and evolving expectations.
Steadiness as a leadership practice
Yes, steadiness is cultivated. Don’t expect to just stumble upon it during moments of pressure.
In our executive coaching and leadership development work in Seattle, we see steady leadership take shape through a leader’s capacity to pause without disengaging, to hold competing realities without rushing toward resolution, and to stay connected to people while carrying responsibility. This steadiness is felt more than announced. It shows up in pacing, tone, and presence.
When leaders practice steadiness, teams experience grounding. Conversations become more thoughtful. Decisions carry weight. Trust grows through consistency.
Steadiness supports movement that is sustainable over time, particularly in organizations where change has become a constant rather than a phase.
What leaders are strengthening right now
As leaders work to cultivate steadiness in changing environments, certain capacities consistently come into focus. These capacities shape how leaders relate to pressure over time and are increasingly central to modern leadership development and executive coaching.
We see leaders strengthening:
Awareness of their own nervous system responses so they can choose how to engage rather than react
The ability to take a wider view when making decisions, especially when stakes are high
Discernment around how emerging technologies, including AI, support human judgment
Practices that invite shared sense-making instead of placing responsibility in isolation
Reflective space that allows insight to settle before action is taken
These capacities influence the quality of leadership far more than any single tool. They shape whether leaders create grounding through presence or unintentionally amplify uncertainty for their teams.
Why steadiness matters now
Teams look to leaders for cues about how to relate to change. Leaders who remain grounded help others stay engaged rather than overwhelmed. They create conditions where people can think clearly, collaborate effectively, and adapt without losing connection.
For organizations investing in leadership development, executive coaching, and team effectiveness, cultivating steadiness has become foundational. It strengthens a system’s ability to move through uncertainty with greater care, even when the path isn’t clear.
A moment to reflect
Where does steadiness come most naturally in my leadership right now?
Where do I feel pressure to move before clarity has had time to form?
How do I help others feel oriented when answers are still emerging?
What supports my ability to stay present when the emotional tone of work is charged?
Who helps me slow my thinking without disconnecting from responsibility?
These questions are not meant to be answered quickly. They are an invitation to notice how steadiness is already shaping your leadership, and where it may want more attention.
Continue exploring with us
Watch the webinar recording where we introduced all six leadership themes shaping 2026 and explored this first theme through the lens of the old VUCA and the emerging conditions leaders are navigating now
Join us at Henley Live, our in-person gathering on May 7 in Seattle for leaders and executives who want space to practice and grow in community