Life is stressful. Things are changing. Work feels uncertain. Every day, it seems we’re given new direction and asked to adapt. In the civilian world, change is expected. How you deal with the stress of ambiguity at work is important to your career.

In a recent video, I talked about the different ways I see my clients approach change and stress. They either hide and ignore the stress, strut around and use loudness to distract, or soar above the fray and evaluate options. Much like an ostrich, a peacock or an eagle might respond to a threat, how we respond says a lot about how we feel, what we believe we have power over and where we see ourselves headed.

Are you the type to hope it all passes? Do you wait quietly in the back, believing that if you’re not seen and if you don’t make noise, bad things won’t find you? Or do you make a lot of noise, believing you’ll project strength and confidence (and thereby insulate yourself from harm)?

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Or do you assess what’s happening, clarify what you can (and can’t) control and create a strategy for how to move through the stress with professionalism, authenticity and grace, helping those around you feel safe?

The Military Taught You to be Agile

Of all the traits and talents you gained during your time in the military, one of the greatest might be your agility. This strength – the ability to adjust when faced with uncertainty – is often underrated. But it’s much needed, especially when things are stressful in the workplace. When you’re agile, you’re able to view situations as possibilities instead of running away. In other words, you’re able to adopt a mindset of curiosity and flexibility.

Someone with an agile mindset might respond to stress by asking:

1. How did I get here? Is there anything in the past to hint at how I should adapt or manage my current situation? Agility here means being able to clearly see what the current situation is, based on what happened before.
    
2. What can I control? Do I have the ability or the right to change the situation? I might want a lot of control, but it may not be possible.
    
3. What is outside my control? Whether because of my job, my connections or my abilities, where do I lack charge to make changes to my current situation?
    
4. What is the impact on the organization and the team? As I look to manage the stressful situation, being agile means seeing the implications for others, not just for myself. How could my actions (or lack of action) create a better or worse situation for others? Is that justified? Am I considering their needs and goals in how I evaluate the options I have control over?
    
5. How can I best serve? Just because I can lead doesn’t always mean I should. Is someone else better suited for that role? Would I be better off taking a nonvisible leadership position? Evaluating your own contribution to a stressful situation — and being OK with potentially taking a less glamorous role — is one of the hallmarks of agile thinking in the workplace.

We cannot stop change, and the stress that comes with work uncertainty can be debilitating or exciting. It’s often not in our power to change our situation, but it is in our power to change how we respond to it.

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