In Chaotic Times, Leaders Must Focus On Workplace Culture

Forbes

4 hours ago

Jessica Kriegel, Chief Strategy Officer, Culture Partners.
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If your workforce seems tense, disengaged or emotionally drained, it's not your imagination. Employees across America are operating in survival mode, and the root cause isn't laziness or lack of resilience. It's uncertainty.
According to 2025 LinkedIn research, employee confidence has dropped sharply. On a scale of -100 to +100, it sits at just 24, down 10 points from 2024. Meanwhile, executive confidence is much higher, at 54. This isn't just a data point. It's a flashing red light for leadership. Because if employees are losing confidence when leaders aren't, the gap between perception and experience widens. When that gap grows too wide, it ends up eroding trust, stifling innovation and hindering results.
The American workforce isn't simply navigating a tough quarter. It's weathering a perfect storm of economic instability, AI disruption, geopolitical tension and financial strain. In short, people are feeling the pressure in their wallets, their work and their well-being.
This type of ambiguity activates the brain's fear-based operating system. Under threat, people default to survival mode. They avoid risk, stop speaking up and prioritize self-protection. That's not a character flaw—it's biology. Recent neuroscience confirms that when uncertainty hits, older neural circuits trigger the defense and habitual responses that can supersede thoughtful decision-making.
The problem? Too many organizations respond by doubling down on pressure, policies and performance metrics. And it's not working. Gallup reported U.S. employee engagement fell to just 31% in 2024—its lowest in a decade. Globally, engagement dropped to 21%, costing an estimated $438 billion in productivity loss.
At Culture Partners, we call this the Action Trap. It's the belief that more action, urgency and control will fix declining performance. But while it can deliver a temporary lift, over time, that momentum fades. Soon, burnout creeps in, engagement flatlines and cultural damage takes root.
It's the companies that focus on culture—not just compliance—that outperform. Take Service Express, a technology services firm that made a bold cultural shift. Instead of pushing harder, it focused on belief alignment, individual ownership and storytelling. The result? Exponential growth and consistently high engagement, even through economic uncertainty.
So, if control doesn't create sustainable results, what does?
Workplace culture is how people think and act to get results. It lives in the beliefs people hold and the behaviors those beliefs drive. Too many leaders try to change behavior without changing the belief underneath. But if you want different results, you need to create different experiences that shift belief systems. That's where real transformation begins.
In uncertain times, don't tighten your grip. Focus on elements like:
• Clarity: Employees can't perform in ambiguity. They need to know the mission, their role and how success is defined. Try setting three nonnegotiable goals for the organization, then make sure every employee knows what they are and how their role connects to them.
• Alignment: You can't demand belief. You have to cultivate it through meaningful experiences that shift perspectives. Ask questions like "What beliefs are currently getting in the way of us achieving these goals?" Then design experiences that challenge and reshape those beliefs.
• Accountability: When people believe in what they're doing, they hold themselves to higher standards. But instead of treating accountability as enforced compliance, redefine it as a personal choice to focus on what each person can control.
When these three elements are in place, control becomes irrelevant. You won't need to push for results once you've created the conditions where they can emerge naturally.
If you're wondering why your team is tired, your innovation pipeline is stalled or your engagement scores are slipping, ask yourself, "Am I trying to control my way through uncertainty or lead through it?" Control feels powerful. But it's a brittle strategy. Cultures built on clarity and alignment are resilient. They bend without breaking. They adjust without panicking. They grow even when the ground beneath them shifts.
In a chaotic world, the most effective leaders let go of the illusion of control and step into the real work of shaping culture. Because the future won't be won by the most aggressive. It will be won by the most adaptable.
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