Whirlwinds of Change: A Time When We Feel We Are Being Swept Away.

Some days, it feels like we are all standing in a wind tunnel. The kind where the noise is deafening, the ground beneath you shifts constantly, and clarity is a rare luxury. You squint, you brace, and you try not to fall over.

Other days, it feels like the storm has moved inside.

If you’ve felt this lately – in your team, in your work, in yourself – I want to begin with this: You’re not weak. You’re not behind. You’re not broken and completely decimated.

You’re simply awake in the whirlwind.

We are living through a time of accelerated change – not gentle evolution, but Disruption with a capital D. Technology, geopolitics, generational shifts, societal calamity, climate events, artificial intelligence, economic instability – all converging into a swirl of uncertainty that isn’t just reshaping organizations but… reshaping us.

If we are honest, it’s not just external transformation that’s happening.

It’s internal. It’s cellular. It’s existential. So, how do we lead in this moment? Not just survive the whirlwind — but transform inside it?

This is a reflection – and a rallying cry – for leaders who are willing to feel the full force of change and lead anyway. Not by controlling the storm, but by becoming anchored humans inside it.

Let’s explore.

Change is No Longer a Project — It’s a State of Being.

There was a time when change came with a kickoff. A timeline. A budget. A roadmap. We called consultants, held focus groups, engaged every stakeholder, drafted new org charts.

Today, change is not a thing we simply manage. It’s a constant condition. It's not an initiative. It's the air we breathe.

Most leaders are still trying to "return to stability," as if we’ll wake up and things will go back to normal. But what if stability isn’t the goal anymore?

What if the real invitation and goal, is fluidity? What if we are meant to become storm-literate leaders – not clinging to stillness, but finding wisdom in motion?

This means that traditional leadership models – built on control, predictability, and hierarchy – are no longer fit for purpose. They are too slow. Too brittle. Too emotionally shallow.

The leaders who thrive now are not those with all the answers, but those with the deepest capacity: Capacity to feel. Capacity to adapt. Capacity to re-center – again and again.

Why Change Feels So Personal (Because It Is).

One of the great lies of the corporate world is that we should somehow intellectually manage change, while remaining emotionally unaffected by it. 

This is not just unrealistic. It’s dangerous.

Change is not just operational. It’s deeply psychological.

When you restructure a department, people don’t just lose job titles – they lose identity.

When you introduce AI tools, people don’t just face new workflows – they face existential doubt.

When you pivot your strategy, people don’t just update their goals – they question their value.

People are people. You are a person too. 

That’s why the most important leadership work in a time of change isn’t strategy. It’s emotional translation. You have to help people move through grief, disorientation, anxiety, resistance – while staying anchored in purpose.

Change always creates emotional turbulence. We constantly feel as though we’re being swept away with little or no control. It’s imperative to be anchored to hold firm. 

And the leaders among us who can name that turbulence and hold space for it – not fix it, not minimize it, just hold it – are the ones who build resilient, loyal, and creative cultures.

The Four Emotional Seasons of Change.

Having coached hundreds of executive teams through change, I’ve seen four recurring emotional "seasons" – and they rarely happen in a straight and ordered line.

1. Disruption (Shock, Disbelief, “Wait – what?”): This is the moment the announcement lands. AI rollout. Acquisition. Layoffs. Leadership shift. You see the blank stares. You hear the hallway whispers. Heart-stopping stuff.

Leadership skill: Ground the chaos. Don’t rush into explanation. Let people breathe. Model calm, but don’t fake certainty, or anything.

2. Resistance (Fear, Anger, Blame): This is the stage where emotions boil. People dig in their heels and start to get upset. Maybe lose it. “Why now?” “This won’t work.” “We tried this already.”

Leadership skill: Create psychological safety. Let people express frustration without punishment. Resistance is not sabotage. It’s a form of loyalty to the past. A past in which we became conditioned and comfortable.

3. Reorientation (Curiosity, Tentativeness, Exploration): Here, the fog begins to lift. Questions shift from “Why?” to “What if?” This is your opening. Be nurturing.

Leadership skill: Invite participation. Give people a role, a part in shaping the – their – future. Co-create new norms. Make it safe to experiment.

4. Integration (Ownership, Energy, Momentum): This is where the new way begins to feel natural. Teams finally find rhythm. Change becomes culture.

Leadership skill: Celebrate and normalize. Mark progress. Honor the journey. Make meaning visible. Let your heart – and your teams’ hearts – sing.

The Nervous System of an Organization.

Here’s what’s often missed in boardrooms where futures are crafted: organizations don’t just have cultures. They have nervous systems.

Every team, every department, has a felt sense – a collective emotional tone that determines how people respond to stress, change, and pressure.

If the collective nervous system is dysregulated, even the most brilliant change strategy will falter. But if the nervous system is calm, alert, and connected – you create resilience.

So, what dysregulates the system?

• Sudden “poorly thought through” announcements – with no context.

• Emotionally unavailable leadership – nowhere to be seen.

• Overwhelm without support – they’ll be fine attitude.

• Unnamed fear – let’s not talk about that.

And what regulates it?

• Transparent communication. Openness.

• Leaders who name what they feel. Emotions are builders.

• Real-time feedback loops. Feedforward.

• Humor, humility, and shared rituals. We’re in this together.

The way you lead emotionally is the way your team will experience change physically.

When the Whirlwind is Inside You.

This post would not be complete if I didn’t speak to the storm inside the leader. You are not just managing other people’s change fatigue – you’re feeling your own.

You’re asked to be both visionary and vulnerable. Decisive and empathetic. Strategic and soothing. It’s a lot. Nobody gave you the magic cheat sheet. And while you hold the line for everyone else, your own nervous system is absorbing wave after wave of uncertainty. Sometimes the waves feel like a tsunami.

Let me offer you this, with full honesty: It is okay to fall apart sometimes.

Not in front of your board, perhaps. But somewhere. With someone. In a room where your armor can drop. And you can let go – let it out.

Too many leaders are drowning behind their masks – smiling through human experience overwhelm, issuing updates while their bodies scream for rest, and a break.

Real leadership in this era requires emotional honesty and you have to face up to it. You can’t fake your way through this moment. Remove the masks your wear.

Find your people. Find your practices. Create a sacred pause. Not to escape the whirlwind – but to return to it with integrity. Feeling more principled, and whole.

What Anchors Us Now?

What helps? In the middle of constant change, what can you hold onto, so you’re not swept away?

Here are four anchors I suggest when this question arises:

1. Purpose > Plans: Plans can become obsolete overnight. But purpose? Purpose endures. It is the deep hum beneath every pivot, every way you turn. In the whirlwind, your purpose is your compass.

2. Principles > Preferences: You may have to give up your preferred way of working, leading, even being seen. But your principles – how you treat people, how you make decisions, what you protect – must stay firm, and resolute.

3. Presence > Perfection: You don’t have to say the perfect thing. It’s not expected of you. Just be real and be present because presence builds trust. It creates safety. It is felt more than heard.

4. People > Power: This is not a time for ego. This is a time for deep relationship. Reach out. Ask questions. Get feedback. Remember: No leader survives the storm alone. You need “all hands holding on together” to secure survival.

Practical Questions to Ask in the Eye of the Storm.

If you’re leading change right now (and you are – whether it’s formal or not), consider these questions:

• What emotion is driving my leadership today: fear, pressure, curiosity, compassion?

• Have I named the emotional temperature in the room, or am I pretending it’s fine?

• What’s the story we’re telling about this change – and who gets to shape it?

• Am I trying to control outcomes, or invite participation and contribution?

• Where do I need to pause, slow down, breathe – even for five minutes?

These are not soft questions. These are your strength showing up – and strategic survival tools.

The Future Belongs to the Emotionally Literate.

The age of the robotic, text-book leader is over. The future belongs to those who can navigate complexity not just with intelligence – but with emotional depth. That means:

• Feeling your feelings without being ruled by them.

• Creating cultures where emotions are regarded as data, not disruptions.

• Leading from presence, not performance.

It also means recognizing this: You are not here to be perfect. You are here to be real.

The more real you become, the more permission you give your teams to adapt creatively – not from fear, but from trust. This is how change becomes culture. This is how storms become catalysts. This is how leaders become worthy of being followed.

A Final Inner Word. From Me (I Promise).

If you are standing in a whirlwind right now. If you are stretched, uncertain, or secretly hoping someone else will take the reins. If you are trying to hold steady for others while quietly unraveling yourself.

I see you. I feel you.

Take One Breath. One Pause. One Return to Your Center Where You’re Most Grounded.

And you will know – the whirlwind is not the enemy. It’s the weather of transformation. And your job is not to stop it – but to learn how to lead inside it.

So, plant your feet. Open your heart. Loosen your grip. And trust that even in this chaos – this mighty whirlwind – something wiser is unfolding.

Because the greatest leaders are not the ones who escape the storm.

They are the ones who become the calm inside it.