3 Surprising Ways to Inspire Commitment During Disruption
When things feel unstable, most leaders default to pushing for alignment, reinforcing accountability, or increasing oversight.
But commitment doesn’t come from pressure.
It comes from something deeper in the brain and nervous system: a sense of agency, meaning, and psychological safety.
Here are three ways to build that, especially when things feel uncertain:
1. Give People More Say, Not More Direction
It sounds counterintuitive.
When things feel uncertain, the instinct is to tighten control. Clarify direction, reduce variability, make decisions faster.
But when people lose a sense of control, their brain shifts into protection mode. Engagement drops. Creativity narrows. Commitment becomes compliance.
One of the fastest ways to re-engage commitment is to restore agency.
This doesn’t mean chaos or lack of leadership. It means asking:
Where can your team shape how the work gets done?
What decisions can move closer to them?
Where can you invite input before decisions are finalized?
When people feel a sense of ownership, their level of commitment changes instantly, because the work becomes theirs, not just yours.
2. Name What’s Hard, Without Trying to Fix It Immediately
Most leaders skip this step.
They move quickly to solutions, reassurance, or forward momentum. But what goes unspoken doesn’t disappear, it drains energy in the background.
From a neuroscience perspective, when uncertainty and pressure are not acknowledged, the brain continues to scan for threat. This keeps people in a low-grade stress response, even if everything looks “fine” on the surface.
There is real power in simply saying:
“This is a tough moment.”
“There’s a lot we don’t know yet.”
“I know this may feel frustrating or unclear.”
Not as a prelude to fixing it. Just as recognition.
Because when people feel seen in the reality they are experiencing, their system settles. And from that place, commitment becomes possible again.
3. Make Progress Visible, Even If It’s Small
In disruption, progress becomes harder to see.
Timelines shift. Priorities evolve. Wins feel temporary. And without visible progress, the brain starts to assume that effort isn’t leading anywhere meaningful.
This is where many teams disengage.
Your role as a leader is to make progress undeniable.
Not just big milestones, but:
What moved forward this week?
What decisions created clarity?
What friction was reduced?
Where did we learn something that makes us better?
These are what we call progress signals.
They tell the brain: this is working. And when people believe their effort matters, commitment strengthens naturally.
Innovation Wins When Commitment Is Real
You don’t get innovation from a team that is simply compliant.
You get it from a team that is committed, engaged, and willing to think, challenge, and create, even in uncertainty.
Innovate for Growth™ is a 30-day leadership experience designed to help you build that kind of environment. In just 10 minutes a day, you will learn how to send the signals, ask the questions, and create the conditions that turn ideas into measurable progress.
If you want your team not just working, but fully invested in what they are building:
Leadership Practice
This week, choose one moment where you would normally default to direction or speed.
Instead:
Ask one question that gives your team more agency
Name one thing that feels hard right now, without solving it
Highlight one piece of progress that might otherwise go unnoticed
Then notice what shifts, in the conversation, in energy, and in ownership.
Author
Athena Williams, Founder and CEO of Tenacious Leadership Institute, partners with senior leaders and organizations navigating complex transformation at scale. For more than two decades, she has supported executives at global companies including Fortune 500 and high-growth organizations to strengthen leadership capacity, accelerate transformation, and deliver results that hold under pressure.
Her work sits at the intersection of neuroscience, leadership behavior, and execution - helping leaders think clearly in complexity, lead decisively through disruption, and align teams and organizations during critical inflection points. Through executive coaching and leadership development programs, Athena supports transformation that shows up in stronger decisions, sharper execution, and sustained performance across people, teams, and the enterprise.
Take the next step in strengthening how you lead transformation.
