In the face of disruption, resistance is natural. The nervous system is wired to seek safety and familiarity—so it’s no surprise that change can trigger unconscious pushback.

But resistance doesn’t always look like refusal or rebellion. It’s often much more nuanced. Especially in professional environments, it wears disguises that seem reasonable—even productive. A team that suddenly “needs more data.” A leader who doubles down on minor tasks. A project that keeps shifting but never seems to move forward.

You don’t need a culture survey to know how your team is doing. Disruption reveals it.

The way people show up under pressure—how they speak (or don’t), how they respond to feedback, how they collaborate or retreat—tells the truth about your culture. Not the aspirational version, but the lived one.

Resilience gets a lot of credit in times of disruption—and rightly so. It helps us absorb shocks, recover from setbacks, and find our footing again.

But here’s the truth: resilience is only part of the story. In a landscape that keeps changing, leaders don’t just need to bounce back. They need to move forward.

That’s where tenacity comes in.

When the stakes are high and the pace is fast, strong leadership matters more than ever.

But what if some of your default leadership instincts—especially during disruption—are based on outdated assumptions?

Let’s reframe five common myths that keep leaders stuck during change, and explore new ways of thinking that build clarity, trust, and traction.

Change rarely arrives with a parade.

It shows up quietly—through shifting customer feedback, subtle changes in engagement data, rising team tension, or unexpected competitor plays. By the time the disruption is obvious, it’s already in motion.

That’s why leaders who navigate complexity well aren’t just reacting—they’re sensing. They’re paying attention to early signals, even the quiet ones. Especially the quiet ones.

Why even experienced leaders need to rethink their habits in times of complex change

Disruption doesn’t just shake up your strategy—it subtly reshapes your leadership.

And often, without you noticing.

As a seasoned leader, you’ve weathered uncertainty before. You’ve adapted, pivoted, restructured, and kept things moving. But disruption today doesn’t always look like a clear event—it shows up as complexity, velocity, and the exhaustion of making decision after decision in an environment that never quite settles.

When disruption hits, all eyes turn to the executive team. But instead of becoming more cohesive, many leadership teams become more fragmented.

Why? Because disruption often magnifies unspoken tensions, exposes unclear decision-making, and surfaces competing priorities—all of which are hard to address in the middle of a storm.

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.

During disruption, leadership can feel like a nonstop response cycle. New challenges arise daily, and the pressure to adapt is real. But when leaders neglect their own development in favor of reacting to everything around them, they risk becoming outdated—not just in their skills, but in their mindset.

When disruption hits, most leaders instinctively shift into execution mode. The focus turns to decisions, deadlines, and deliverables. In that high-pressure space, coaching can feel like a luxury—something to return to when the fires are out. But that’s exactly when coaching is needed most: not once the disruption is over, but right in the middle of it.