Plastic pieces representing a local government leader practicing resilient leadership skills to lead with uncertainty and strengthen organizational adaptability.

How to Lead With Uncertainty: Developing Resilient Leadership Skills

Byseoteam7788

The old playbooks are dead. Forecasts are guesswork. Stability is a ghost story we tell ourselves. And yet, you’re still expected to lead like you’ve got it all mapped out. Welcome to leadership in the age of chaos – sink or rewrite the rules.

The truth is, uncertainty isn’t a curveball anymore – it’s the game. Leaders who cling to certainty snap under pressure. The ones who thrive? They know how to pivot without flinching and build momentum when everything feels up in the air.

So, how do you get into it? Read on to learn the types of power you need for leadership.

Positional Power: Strategic Leadership Skills

When uncertainty hits, people naturally look for structure in their local government leadership. That’s where positional power steps in. It’s the authority that comes with your role, whether you’re a department head, city manager, or CEO. This power grants you the ability to:

  • Make decisions
  • Assign responsibilities
  • Set expectations
  • Signal accountability and continuity during transitions
  • Activate resources quickly without waiting for consensus

In chaotic or unclear environments, especially when you could be worried about leadership gaps, that structure becomes essential.

It’s not about control for control’s sake. It’s about providing a framework people can count on when nothing else feels solid.

But relying solely on your title to command respect is a short game. Positional power is only as strong as the clarity and confidence behind it. The best leaders use it to create alignment, not obedience. 

Referent Power

In times of uncertainty, formal titles and technical skills can only carry you so far with influence in leadership. What often matters more is referent power: the influence you build through personal trust and connection. It’s the type of power that can’t be mandated or demanded; it’s earned over time by showing up consistently as someone people want to follow, not just someone they have to.

When the future is unclear, teams don’t just look for orders; they look for leaders they believe in. Referent power fills the emotional gap when the facts aren’t enough.

It’s built through listening more than talking and treating people with genuine respect even when the pressure is sky-high. Leaders who lean into referent power create loyalty that outlasts any temporary crisis.

Coercive Power

Coercive power is often seen as the villain of leadership, and in many cases, it can be. It’s the ability to enforce consequences-discipline, termination, or removal of privileges. Used recklessly, it creates fear, resistance, and long-term damage to morale. But in uncertain times, when standards slip or critical boundaries are crossed, coercive power has a place: if used deliberately and sparingly.

During instability, ambiguity can breed chaos. When safety or core values are at risk, strong leaders must be willing to set non-negotiables. Coercive power becomes necessary when other forms of influence fail or when decisive action is the only thing that will prevent harm. 

Reward Power

In uncertain times, people crave more than direction-they need affirmation that their efforts matter. Reward power taps into that need by recognizing and reinforcing behaviors that support progress, even when the end goal isn’t entirely clear.

Whether it’s:

  • Praise
  • Promotions
  • New opportunities
  • Simple acknowledgment

This type of power fuels motivation in environments where energy can quickly drain.

The challenge is making rewards feel meaningful, not mechanical. A generic “good job” won’t cut it when people are pushing through ambiguity and stress. Leaders who use reward power effectively are intentional about timing and impact. They call out not just the outcome, but the:

  • Resilience
  • Adaptability
  • Collaboration
  • Innovation under pressure
  • Willingness to take calculated risks

That made it possible. This tells the team, “That mattered-do more of that.”

During periods of uncertainty, reward power becomes a strategic tool for shaping behavior. It helps focus attention, encourages the right risks, and keeps momentum alive. Consultants can help you ensure you’re using this power to your advantage.

Expert Power

When facts are fluid and the future is murky, teams instinctively look to the most knowledgeable person in the room. That’s where expert power steps in: the influence that comes from proven skill, deep insight, or hard-earned experience.

Unlike positional power, expert power isn’t tied to a title. It’s rooted in trust that you know what you’re talking about, and that you’ve solved problems like this before.

In moments of uncertainty, expert power provides something rare: clarity. Leaders who wield it well don’t guess –  they analyze. They don’t bluff – they explain.

This steadies teams who are unsure of the next move and creates confidence in your decisions even if they carry risk. But it has to be real. Empty confidence or inflated credentials collapse fast under scrutiny. Authenticity matters more than authority.

Still, expert power on its own can become brittle. If it turns into arrogance or shuts others down, you lose the very trust that makes it powerful.

Cultural Power For Effective Governance

Cultural power doesn’t show up on an org chart, but its more important for leadership techniques than any formal policy. It’s the influence you hold over the norms, rituals, and unspoken expectations that define how people act when no one’s watching. In stable times, culture quietly reinforces habits. In uncertain times, it becomes the glue-or the fracture line.

Leaders who understand cultural power know that during disruption, people will look to the environment as much as the instructions. If the culture encourages:

Those values will surface under stress. If the culture rewards:

That’s what you’ll get when the pressure rises.

Types of Power: Stay Resilient

There are a lot of different types of power that are important for resiliency. If you haven’t incorporated any of these into your strategy, it may be time to start!

The future of your organization hinges on how well your leaders navigate change today. At Government Leadership Solutions, we don’t just teach resilience – we build it into the DNA of your teams. From custom leadership development frameworks to dynamic executive coaching and culture transformation strategies, we help local governments turn uncertainty into opportunity.

Ready to shape a workplace culture that thrives even through the unexpected? Contact us now to start building a leadership pipeline your community can count on for decades to come.

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