Leading through Chaos

Creating Trust through Bullsh*&

You're standing in front of your team explaining why the company is pivoting AGAIN.  You are one of the lucky ones because it has only been the Third time this quarter for this team. The words coming out of your mouth sound reasonable, but inside you think "this makes zero sense." Your team is looking at you for confidence and clarity, and you're fighting the urge to roll your eyes.

Welcome to management in 2026. You're the bridge between executive decisions and real people doing real work. And that bridge feels like a suspension bridge across a cavernous mountain.

The conventional wisdom is to "fake it till you make it" or "just execute the vision." But your team isn't stupid. They can smell BS from across the conference room. When you pretend to be excited about a decision that clearly blindsided you too, you lose something more valuable than their compliance - you lose their trust.

The alternative isn't to trash-talk leadership or undermine every decision. It's to be honest about what you know and what you don't.

The Honest Leader's Playbook

Name the confusion without blame. "I know this feels like whiplash. We're all trying to figure out how this fits with what we were doing last month." This acknowledges reality without throwing anyone under the bus.

Focus on your team's world. You don't need to defend every corporate decision. Your job is to help your people navigate the impact. "Here's what this means for our current projects" matters more than "here's why leadership thinks this is brilliant."

Be clear about your role. "My job isn't to agree with every decision that comes down. My job is to help you succeed regardless of what's happening." This positions you as their advocate, not just a corporate mouthpiece.

Share your process, not just conclusions. "I asked the same questions you're asking. Here's what I found out, and here's what I'm still trying to understand." This shows you're actively working on their behalf.

When Change Is the Only Constant

Your credibility doesn't come from having all the answers or believing in every corporate message. It comes from being consistently honest about what you know, consistently focused on your team's needs, and consistently working to make sense of the chaos alongside them.

Your team doesn't need you to be perfect. They need you to be their translator, their buffer, and sometimes their reality check. They need you to help them do good work even when the context keeps shifting.

The companies that survive constant change aren't the ones with the most compliant managers. They're the ones with managers who can maintain trust and focus while everything else falls apart.

In a world where everything changes every eight seconds, your honesty might be the only stable thing your team has.