Uncertainty has a way of weaving itself into every part of life. It creeps into your career, your finances, your organization, and even your personal goals. Market trends shift, industries evolve, companies reorganize, and unexpected challenges surface without warning. When these moments hit the laboratory workplace, leadership isn’t just helpful; it’s essential.

Regardless of your perspective, most would agree that uncertainty is constant. In times of rising uncertainty, how do you decide:

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• what to prioritize,
• how to make sense of the noise, and 
• how to lead a team through the unknown?

Your team looks to you for direction, reassurance, and clarity. They want to know that someone is at the helm, scanning the horizon, making informed choices, and remaining steady. A leader who meets uncertainty with calm confidence sets the tone for everyone around them. This is where your leadership approach transforms a reactive culture into a resilient one.

Lead with clarity when answers are scarce

Uncertainty consumes energy. It’s hard enough when circumstances are clear to keep projects moving, maintain morale, and stay focused. When the landscape is shifting, the mental and emotional load grows. 

It’s like trying to navigate through dense fog. You have a general sense of direction, but you move more consciously, and with hyper-attention to the signals around you. It can be exhausting if you don’t manage your energy output, so making efficient decisions is key to avoiding the mental drain. 

One of the most challenging decisions in ambiguity is whether to act or wait. There is no perfect formula. We often think about the risk of taking an action, but it’s important to consider the cost if you don’t do anything. In fact, doing nothing often increases risk. Waiting too long to act can cause missed opportunities, deteriorating morale, and loss of trust. Sometimes, doing something—even if it’s not perfect—is more powerful than waiting. It demonstrates leadership, commitment, and progress. 

The key is to build in checkpoints: Opportunities to pause, assess, and adjust. You don’t need to have all the answers upfront. Just like with your lab’s science, you need to be willing to test, learn, and refine. 

For example, a research team was waiting on news about whether their multi-year funding application would be approved—an answer that could take months. In the meantime, key project timelines and hiring decisions hung in limbo. Rather than pause all forward movement, the lab manager chose to move ahead with scaled-down planning: preparing experimental protocols, securing provisional quotes for equipment, and cross-training existing staff to fill projected roles. None of the steps guaranteed success, but they positioned the team to accelerate once a decision came through. By acting on what was known and planning for multiple outcomes, the manager kept morale high and signaled to the team that progress doesn't have to stop just because certainty hasn't arrived.

As you communicate with your team, highlight the decisions that have been made and those that are pending the next round of information.

Addressing the emotional toll of uncertainty and ambiguity

When things feel up in the air, it’s easy for confusion to creep in. Where there’s confusion, anxiety usually isn’t far behind. Emotions take the wheel: fear, frustration, worst-case-scenario spirals. Logic? Out the window. Even for the most analytical among us, choices are made based on emotion. Those choices are often driven by perceived threats, and are supported with whatever “evidence” fits the narrative.

That’s why clarity matters.

As a leader, you don’t need to have all the answers. But you’ll want to get grounded in what you do know. What’s fact? What’s assumption? Where are the gaps? Then, communicate with honesty and simplicity. Even if the news isn’t what your team hoped for, being clear reduces fear. When people aren’t left guessing, they can plan, respond, and move forward with confidence.

But clarity alone isn’t enough. The emotional and social aspects of ambiguity show up, too, and you want to lead through those as intentionally as working the plan. In tough times, your team isn’t just looking for updates; they’re looking for how to feel. Are we okay? Should we be panicking? Is it safe to speak up? 

If you dismiss their fear or stress, it doesn’t go away. It just goes underground. Instead of trying to push those feelings aside, acknowledge and validate them. Be the leader who says, “Yeah, this is hard,” and then helps the team shift the energy into action.

This doesn’t mean you have to become everyone’s personal therapist. It means showing empathy, being steady, and not pretending everything’s fine when it’s clearly not. It’s likely you wouldn’t feel comfortable with the pretense anyway. People take emotional cues from their leaders. If you’re panicked, they will be, too. But if you stay grounded—even when it’s hard—they’re more likely to stay calm and focused.

After a round of layoffs, for example, a leader notices the team is distracted and tense. Instead of pretending nothing happened and diving straight into tasks, she pauses. She acknowledges what everyone is feeling, opens space for conversation, and reconnects their current work to the lab’s purpose and long-term goals. That’s how you help people move from emotion to action. You aren’t ignoring the work or the feelings. You are helping them redirect the emotion in a way that is productive. Hoping and wishing the tension goes away in time often ends in disappointment, retention issues, and poor productivity. Fear is contagious and spreads quickly.

Even in chaos, it’s possible to build a sense of stability. The key is to focus on what’s within your control. It’s not just the goal setting; it’s also about encouragement and support to the team. Each person is navigating their own path, and as a leader, you want them heading in generally the same direction. Regular communication and acknowledging that we all get to the intersection at different times helps each person and, as a result, the team.

Planning for the inevitable: Embracing uncertainty in the lab

Ambiguity isn’t going away. The next change, challenge, or disruption is always around the corner. The best preparation is to practice. Use today’s uncertainty as training for tomorrow’s ambiguity. Strengthen your ability to lead with limited data, to act without full clarity, and to communicate when you don’t have all the answers.

The more you do it, the more comfortable it becomes. Your team will notice your consistency and begin to model it. Over time, they’ll look to you not just because you’re in charge, but because your leadership brings confidence and calm.

The world will continue to evolve in unpredictable ways. The real question is: how and when will you prepare to lead through it?