8 ways leaders can welcome change and use it to succeed

When managing change in an organization, leaders must adopt a flexible mindset that is open to learning from failure and adapting to new situations to lead their teams through the uncertainty, writes Karen Carey, a leadership coach and founder of Global Advisory Associates Ltd. "As leaders learn to surf the waves of change, they not only enhance their capabilities but also inspire and empower those around them to navigate transitions with resilience and agility," Carey writes.

Put it into practice: Technology is often a significant driver of change, so Carey advises leaders to "invest time in understanding emerging technologies and leverage them to stay ahead in the game."

After the CrowdStrike update that disabled 8.5 million Windows devices around the world last week, affecting everything from hospitals, airlines, banks and telecoms, chief security officer Shawn Henry gave a detailed and heartfelt apology that companies should copy in a time of crisis, writes Christina Garnett, the fractional chief customer officer and advisor of Pocket CCO. Henry acknowledged the issue, sincerely apologized, made a personal connection to customers and laid out a plan to avoid such future incidents, Garnett notes.

Put it into practice: Henry's apology is a great start, Garnett notes, but CrowdStrike must do more to rebuild trust, including concrete actions that will make customers stay. "While these types of incidents are hard to predict, having brands build a culture of action and empathy is necessary to maintain a sense of trust with customers who expect the worst not to happen," Garnett writes.

Boards have three main tasks, says Greg Creed, the former CEO of Yum Brands who now sits on boards for Delta Air Lines, Whirlpool and Aramark, including overseeing the current CEO (or planning a succession) and assessing strategy and risk, which is why more human resources and marketing executives need to join finance-heavy boards. "We just don't necessarily recognize that the true value of the organization is the people who go up and down the elevator and the value of the brand," Creed says.

Cuttlefish may form visual false memories, which humans experience when similar memories get jumbled, and the finding could indicate that cephalopods, like humans, reconstruct memories in pieces, researchers write in iScience. "What was surprising was that the susceptibility to form false memories seems different between individuals," says Christelle Jozet-Alves, a study author, who notes that this trait is also shared with humans.

I wasn't trying to create a surfing-themed issue today, but both Camille Preston and Karen Carey used ocean and wave metaphors to give their advice on how leaders and their teams can surf the restless waters of uncertainty.

Preston advises leaders to find out where they are on the wave. Are their teams being overwhelmed by waves of change, are they missing the wave as it comes by, or are they deftly catching and riding those waves, creating innovations as they go? Creating a culture of awareness, activation, agility-building and accountability can help teams catch those waves and create new growth.

Karen Carey's advice for wave-catching includes learning from past failures, cultivating a growth mindset and remaining adaptable as changes and challenges occur.

"By embracing change, learning from failures and fostering a culture of innovation, leaders can navigate the turbulent seas of uncertainty with confidence," writes Carey.

If change challenges the ability of your team, take time to find out where you are on the wave and work to build your team's awareness of how they respond to uncertain conditions so they can begin to ride waves of uncertainty with confidence.

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