The 3 Biggest Mistakes Leaders Make During Disruption
When the ground is shifting, it’s tempting to rely on old habits: tighten your grip, speed up decisions, keep moving forward at all costs. But many of the most common leadership mistakes during disruption come from good intentions—gone reactive.
Leaders want to protect their teams, appear strong, and maintain momentum. But when that turns into isolation, over-functioning, or avoiding tough conversations, things start to break down. You end up with burned-out teams, unclear priorities, and decisions that lack buy-in.
The truth? Disruption isn’t a moment to get louder or faster. It’s a moment to get clearer. And clarity only comes when leaders have the courage to slow down and see what’s actually happening.
Here are three of the biggest mistakes to avoid during disruption:
Going It Alone
Disruption can trigger a deep instinct to retreat inward, especially for leaders who feel responsible for holding everything together. But trying to shoulder the weight of change by yourself often leads to disconnection, decision fatigue, and burnout. Your team feels the isolation too—when leaders go quiet or appear to be carrying a hidden load, it erodes trust and morale. Disruption is not the time for solo heroics. It’s the time to increase collaboration, co-create solutions, and foster a sense of shared ownership and resilience.
Coaching Question: Where might you be holding too much alone right now—and who could you invite in?
Take Action: Identify one current challenge you’ve been carrying solo. Choose one person this week to bring into the conversation for support, brainstorming, or shared decision-making.
Overcommunicating the Wrong Things
In uncertain times, leaders often feel pressure to say something—anything—to reassure the team. But when messages are vague, overly positive, or full of jargon, they can increase anxiety rather than calm it. Overcommunication isn't about volume—it's about clarity, honesty, and relevance. Leaders build trust when they focus on what’s essential, speak to the real concerns people have, and admit when they don’t yet have the answers.
Coaching Question: What message does your team need to hear most from you right now—and what are you avoiding saying?
Take Action: Review your next planned communication or team update. Strip out anything that’s noise, and center your message on what’s most essential, including naming what’s still uncertain.
Avoiding Conflict to Preserve Harmony
During disruption, it can feel easier to sidestep tension in the name of keeping the peace. But when leaders avoid hard conversations—about priorities, performance, or misalignment—it doesn’t create harmony, it creates confusion and resentment. Short-term comfort leads to long-term dysfunction. True leadership during disruption means leaning into conflict with clarity, empathy, and courage—surfacing what’s unspoken so it doesn’t quietly derail progress.
Coaching Question: What conversation are you avoiding right now that could unlock momentum for your team?
Take Action: Write down the hard conversation you’ve been putting off. Map out what you need to say, what outcome you want, and how you’ll stay grounded in empathy and clarity—then schedule it.
Disruption can surface your default patterns—but it can also be a catalyst for evolving your leadership. Start by asking: What do I default to when things feel unstable? And is that serving me—or limiting me?
Practice
Reflection for the week:
What’s one leadership habit you tend to fall into during stress or uncertainty?
What impact does that habit have on others?
What would a more expansive, conscious version of that behavior look like?
Awareness is the first step. Intention is the next.
About Athena
Athena Williams, Founder and CEO of Tenacious Leadership Institute, has been supporting leaders worldwide to become more tenacious for over 20 years. She has found that tenacity is the key to sustained leadership success in today’s ever-changing world. Through her coaching and leadership development programs, she helps leaders expertly handle change, complexity and other challenges so they can quickly get better results for themselves, their teams and their organizations.
Take the first step to becoming a tenacious leader by scheduling a call with us.
