Leading through uncertainty: A media leader’s guide

Opinion

Businesses are navigating a landscape shaped by continual change, shifting market dynamics, and evolving client needs. Lisa Morgan reflects on the pandemic and offers leadership advice for today’s uncertain world.

Can you believe it’s been over six years since we went into a national lockdown? Making those decisions as leaders that affected not just us but also our staff, our families, and their families. It was deeply daunting, and every leader questioned whether they were equipped to handle the uncertainty.

There were moments where it felt paralysing. You knew you had to remain confident while there was no obvious “right” answer, and we were forced to make impossible decisions based on gut feeling alone. It wasn’t easy, but that period taught me that when faced with uncertainty, there’s no perfect decision, just the best decision for the business and the team in that moment.

What has become increasingly clear since the pandemic is that uncertainty is no longer a temporary disruption but a defining feature of the operating environment. The expectation of returning to periods of relative stability has fallen away. Instead, businesses are navigating a landscape shaped by continual change, shifting market dynamics, and evolving client needs.

In the short to mid-term, at least, it is far more likely that organisations will need to operate with agility and resilience as standard, rather than waiting for conditions to settle. 

With this recent volatility, it’s important to ask again: how, as leaders, can we support teams to navigate periods of uncertainty?

First and foremost, we need to work on our own mindset. If leaders crave stability and security and want to run away from change, that will probably be obvious to the team, even if they try to pretend otherwise. So building awareness of our own triggers and cultivating a growth, anti-fragile mindset is a priority.

Give clear direction

One of the hardest things for leaders to do in uncertain times is to take action. It can feel easier to sit on your hands when you’re unsure of what route to take. 

During the pandemic, we didn’t know whether the lockdown would be over in five days or five years. There were hundreds of questions, like whether to sit back and wait for it to pass or risk taking big decisions that could backfire. We didn’t put anyone on furlough, which aligned with our business values and felt like the right thing to do to provide our team and clients stability. It turned out to be one of the best decisions we made.  

That period really showed that even if you don’t have a clear map ahead, it’s important to stay calm and offer direction. For many workers, this is lacking; Gallup found 29% say they lack clear, honest or consistent communication from leaders. 

My learning was that teams can usually tolerate difficult news or negative updates, but what most struggle with is confusion, such as shifting priorities without explanation or decisions that appear to happen in isolation. This is particularly true in media where the pace is already high, and roles can be challenging.

Now, the role of leadership isn’t just to pretend everything is stable, but to provide direction by shifting priorities as client budgets change, shortening planning cycles to reflect faster decision-making, or being clear about who owns key decisions when timelines are impacted.

Offer honesty, not just optimism 

As a leader, there can be real pressure to always have a smiling face and sound upbeat. I want to go into every meeting and tell everyone everything will be fine. Yes, optimism is important when things feel uncertain. But without grounding in reality and honesty, it rarely helps and can be harmful.

During COVID, we had to provide that transparency. There was no way to hide what was happening in the world. But what about navigating challenging periods of the business where staff might not have visibility into what’s going on?

I’ve learnt that teams are intuitive and will sense when something is off. If you appear to be avoiding difficult truths, then the trust you’ve spent years forging might be thrown out the window overnight. Once that happens, even sensible decisions lose impact.

Instead, be open about what is known, what is not, when teams can expect more clarity, and what’s to come. It’s not about having all the answers but offering honesty while the answers are still forming.

Take the instability we currently face. Whilst the future is somewhat uncertain, we’re continuing to invest in our talent and various platforms to provide the best opportunity for future growth, whilst being clear with our team the levers we have at our disposal to counter any downturn and protect the long-term future of the business. 

Remain agile 

If the past years have shown us anything, it’s that things can change very quickly, especially in media. That means we need to think differently about how work gets done. Sometimes that’s about knowing when to change so you can move forward, and building that agility into your planning.

During COVID, in hindsight, we made the right decision in keeping our team. But that meant we had to be more agile in other areas, like reallocating resources when client priorities suddenly shifted, or simply making decisions faster with fewer layers. For example, we launched training sessions for clients to help them prepare for an exit from COVID and keep their furloughed teams connected to the business.  

That time also showed the value of deliberate scenario planning. Not because we could’ve ever expected that exact scenario. However, having thought through different possibilities made the business stronger when one of them happened.

Building better for the future 

There’s a temptation to see periods of uncertainty as something just to power through. And there are plenty of signals of optimism ahead too, with the latest IPA Bellwether Q1 2026 report showing a +7.3% net balance of UK companies’ increased marketing budgets; however, we’re yet to see the full impact of the war in Iran.

But the same conditions that create pressure also create the opportunity to make the business stronger. COVID provided a platform for us to build our forward vision and plan for international growth, and taught us so much, not just how to run a business, but about leaning into our core purpose and values to make the right decisions.

Employees do not need leaders who can predict the future, but rather those who can help them navigate it. I’ve found that providing this support can create the conditions for better, stronger businesses well into the future.

Six years on, I’m a better leader for having gone through this period, and more importantly, well-positioned to tackle the challenges we now face in an increasingly volatile trading environment.

Lisa Morgan is managing director at Generation Media. Read her monthly column for The Media Leader on the first Thursday of each month.