Resilient Leadership: Strengthening Teams in Times of Uncertainty

In this episode:

In a world of constant disruption, resilience isn’t just about bouncing back—it’s about adapting, leading, and sustaining high performance under pressure. In this episode produced as part of Global Ivey Day 2025, we explore psychology of resilience at both the personal and team levels, focusing on how leaders can foster a culture of adaptability and sustained well-being. 

Drawing on cutting-edge research in organizational behaviour and leadership, our expert panel will share practical strategies to help leaders navigate uncertainty, build trust, and empower teams to thrive—even in the face of adversity. Whether you’re leading through economic shifts, industry upheaval, or everyday challenges, this conversation will provide actionable insights to strengthen your leadership and the resilience of those around you.

Guests:

• Zoe Kinias, Associate Professor, Organizational Behaviour, Ivey Business School
• Hayden Woodley, Assistant Professor, Organizational Behaviour, Ivey Business School
• Dusya Vera, Professor, Strategy, Ivey Business School & Executive Director, Ian O. Ihnatowycz Institute for Leadership

Other ways to listen:

• Apple Podcasts
• Spotify Podcasts

Great question! I have a project on leadership styles during the pandemic that demonstrates that leaders that were more directive (i.e., provided clear guidance, consistent constructive feedback, progress towards goals) were seen as more effective leaders than leaders that were more empowering (i.e., delegating decision making, focusing on development and learning from errors). This supports arguments that during a crisis, a follower needs a different leadership style than during a time outside of a crisis. In fact, we found that empowering leadership was so harmful during the pandemic that it increased a desire to quit among followers.

Q: Sometimes managers intend on creating a “casual” and “informal” culture - with the intent of it addressing problematic power dynamics or strict hierarchal structures in the workplace. However, in practice, this mindset can create a culture that lacks structure, lacks processes, lacks organization, causing team members to be resilient to “make up” for this. How would an individual bring up this issue to management?

Think about sports team: they have clear roles, responsibilities, and goals that help link individual team members to the collective goal. 

Having that conversation with the manager, however, is another challenge all together. There's no "one right way" to approach this conversation, since ways issues show up tend to be context-dependent. If it's an issue that impacts several team members, there's opportunity to leverage peer support to collectively approach management amd express the challenges created by a lack of structure.

Q: What would you say to a manager that suggested you focus on resiliency as part of your development plan when you push back on taking additional work for fear of the quality suffering?

Rather than framing the conversation as a refusal to take on work, it can be more effective to level set with your manager on which projects should be prioritized while remaining honest about what resources (and time is a very important resource!) should be allocated to each project while expressing what limitations may be created for the current demands you’re currently managing. This collaborative process can help both you and your manager feel closer to understanding each other and create clarity on the expected outcomes.

And not a question, but a final add in for how we should approach challenges:   

What is Learning in Action?

Hosted by the Ivey Academy at Ivey Business School, Learning in Action explores current topics in leadership and organizations. In this podcasting series, we invite our world-class faculty and a variety of industry experts to deliver insights from the latest research in leadership, examine areas of disruption and growth, and discuss how leaders can shape their organizations for success.

Episode transcript coming soon.