Leadership Tangles Blog

Consider this. Economic pundits have declared that volatility is the New Normal. Markets are fluctuating wildly day to day. Executive officers, guiding their companies, are afloat in a sea of uncertainty. Investors generally take fewer risks during volatile times. It takes guts to invest when the downside may be greater than the upside. It also takes courage to make major business decisions.

In yesterday's post, I made reference to the term VUCA. VUCA stands for volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity. Executive leaders have been increasingly challenged with VUCA, but in today's market, more so than ever. In the past six weeks, it feels like we have been collectively on an “E” ticket ride, although not at Disneyland! As the stock market has risen and fallen at dizzying levels, and with the credit markets in a vise, we have held our collective breaths. The business leaders I have spoken to or visited are struggling to make sense of the situation. Today, I will address the “V” in volatility.