In today’s climate of disruption, executives are making more decisions, at greater speed, and with higher stakes than ever before. 

From allocating budgets under pressure to balancing talent retention with AI adoption, the sheer volume and weight of choices are stretching leaders’ mental capacity thin. This constant demand doesn’t just create stress—it erodes clarity, slows momentum, and can quietly undermine credibility at the very moment strong direction is most needed.

Disruption doesn’t just affect your operations—it can paralyze innovation. While many leaders know they need to innovate during times of change, the reality is that innovation often stalls when organizations face unexpected challenges. Why does this happen? Let’s break it down.

When disruption hits, the brain goes into a state of heightened alert, triggering the "fight or flight" response. This natural survival mechanism can cause leaders and teams to become risk-averse, prioritizing safety and security over creativity and innovation. 

In times of change, it’s easy for leaders to fall into reactive patterns, responding to events as they unfold. This uncertainty can lead to decision paralysis, misaligned teams, and missed opportunities. 

That’s why having a disruption playbook is essential. It’s not just a collection of strategies—it’s a comprehensive, living document that helps leaders stay aligned, focused, and proactive when disruption strikes.

A disruption playbook serves as a roadmap, outlining how to respond, adjust priorities, and keep teams aligned. It incorporates your leadership values, crisis management protocols, and clear decision-making frameworks. 

In times of disruption, the pressure to keep performing can cloud your awareness of how much it’s really taking out of you. While you may feel like you’re staying on top of things, there are subtle signs that the stress of constant change is quietly draining your energy. 

Here are five hidden signs of exhaustion that many leaders experience during times of disruption.

The term "disruption" often conjures up images of dramatic events like market crashes or technological breakthroughs, but the truth is that disruption is happening all around us, all the time. Whether it’s a new competitor, a regulatory shift, or an internal restructuring, leaders face constant, smaller disruptions that can compound over time.

The answer lies in a lack of readiness. Many leaders still operate under the assumption that their current strategy will carry them through any disruption. But the reality is that traditional approaches to leadership are no longer enough.

In a recent executive team session, a seasoned leader we coach—we’ll call him David—was presenting a strategic shift for the next fiscal year. Midway through, one of the newer VPs raised a pointed question about the assumptions behind his proposal. David felt it instantly: a rush of heat up his neck, a tightening in his chest, a reflex to cut the conversation short and reassert control. He responded curtly, shutting the discussion down.

After the meeting, David said something we hear often from senior leaders: “I knew I was triggered. I could feel it in the moment. But I didn’t know how to stop it—or shift it.”

That’s where most leaders get stuck. They’re self-aware enough to recognize when they’re triggered—but they haven’t yet built the capacity or practices to reduce the charge over time. Instead, they rely on willpower, suppression, or post-meeting self-talk.

In uncertain times, fear is often framed as something to push through or conquer. But what if fear isn’t the problem? What if it’s actually part of your leadership fuel?

Neuroscience tells us that fear activates the amygdala—a part of the brain that detects threat. But fear doesn’t just initiate panic or paralysis. It also primes the prefrontal cortex to pay closer attention, scan for patterns, and solve complex problems. When harnessed well, fear is not a weakness. It’s a wake-up call that enhances your leadership intelligence.

We recently worked with a COO at a global consumer brand whose company was undergoing a rapid digital transformation. As layoffs loomed, her fear spiked—not just about performance, but about preserving trust with her team. Instead of suppressing it, she named it, explored what it was pointing to (a core value of transparency), and used that awareness to guide her messaging and leadership stance. The result? A team that didn’t just weather the change—but stepped up with renewed loyalty and creativity. Fear, for her, became a catalyst.

Most leaders think of uncertainty as something to manage around. But what if the real danger isn’t what’s happening externally—but what uncertainty quietly does to your leadership internally?

Research from Harvard Business Review shows that in uncertain environments, leaders often retreat into short-term, self-protective behaviors—reducing communication, delaying decisions, and narrowing their strategic lens. 

A study from MIT Sloan further found that when ambiguity increases, leaders’ willingness to delegate, innovate, or act decisively can drop significantly—especially when the stakes are high and outcomes unclear. In other words, uncertainty doesn’t just slow down external momentum. It silently rewires how leaders think, relate, and behave.

When disruption hits, the pressure to stabilize often overrides the instinct to innovate. Many senior leaders default to protection mode—preserving resources, reducing risk, and sticking with what has worked in the past. But ironically, these moments of volatility are exactly when innovation is most essential. The leaders who navigate uncertainty successfully don’t wait for calm waters. They build the capability to innovate within disruption—not outside or after it.

Research from BCG found that companies that continued to prioritize innovation during downturns outperformed their peers by up to 30% over the long term. But this kind of innovation doesn’t just come from product teams or R&D. It starts at the top. Senior leaders who want their organizations to thrive in changing conditions must personally model the curiosity, adaptability, and decision-making that fuels innovation culture.

Here are three critical ways senior leaders can drive innovation—even when the environment feels uncertain, unstable, or stretched to the limit.

Disruption is rarely just operational—it’s emotional, relational, and deeply psychological. When markets shift, strategies fail, or internal trust begins to fracture, leaders often double down on execution. But during ambiguity, the greatest leverage point isn’t control—it’s curiosity. And that starts with asking better questions. Not surface-level check-ins or data reviews, but bold, brave coaching questions that invite people to reflect, realign, and re-engage.

Yet asking the right question at the right time is a skill many leaders haven’t been trained for. According to research from Harvard Business School, organizations that encourage inquiry-based leadership outperform their peers by 21% in decision speed and 27% in innovation outcomes. But those same studies show that most leaders underuse reflective questioning in high-stakes moments, especially under pressure. Why? Because it’s far easier to fill the space with direction than to make room for uncertainty.

At TLI, we’ve coached senior leaders through mergers, market pivots, leadership transitions, and cultural overhauls—and the same truth keeps showing up: progress doesn’t come from pushing harder; it comes from asking wiser.