Dear Change Leader,
“I thought being steady meant staying still,” Marcus told me during our coaching session last month.
As the newly promoted Director of a fast-growing tech startup, Marcus had been trying to project unwavering confidence and consistency. He believed that good leadership meant being the organization’s anchor—solid, immovable, predictable.
But the more he tried to hold everything steady, the more exhausted he became. His team seemed increasingly hesitant to bring him problems. Important issues weren’t surfacing until they became crises. And Marcus himself felt like he was holding his breath, bracing against every new development.
Then, during a team offsite, someone suggested a team-building exercise using balance boards. Marcus watched as participants quickly learned that staying balanced required constant, subtle adjustments—not rigid stillness.
“That’s when it hit me,” he said. “I’ve been trying to be a statue when I should have been dancing.”
The Myth of Static Leadership
Many of us carry an image of strong leadership that looks like a firmly planted tree—roots deep, trunk solid, unmoved by the winds of change.
This metaphor serves us well in some ways: leaders do need to be grounded in values and purpose. We do need to provide stability for our teams.
But that metaphor misses something important: in dynamic, complex environments, maintaining equilibrium isn’t about rigidity. It’s about responsive adjustment.
Think about standing on a balance board. The moment you lock your knees and try to hold perfectly still, you fall. Balance requires continuous micro-adjustments—subtle shifts in weight, small movements that respond to changing conditions.
Leadership works the same way.
Why Dynamic Balance Matters Now
The environments we’re navigating today don’t reward static positioning. Market conditions shift. Stakeholder needs evolve. Team dynamics change. Regulatory landscapes transform.
In this context, the leader who tries to maintain balance through rigidity will eventually topple. The leader who stays balanced is the one making constant small adjustments in response to what’s actually happening.
This doesn’t mean being wishy-washy or reactive. It means being responsive—sensing what’s shifting and making intentional adjustments to maintain organizational equilibrium.
Three Dimensions of Dynamic Leadership Balance
Effective leaders maintain balance across multiple dimensions simultaneously:
- Stability and Adaptability
The balance board reality: You need a stable platform (your values, mission, core commitments) AND the ability to shift your weight as conditions change.
In practice, this means:
- Being clear about what doesn’t change (your organization’s purpose, your core principles)
- Being flexible about how you pursue those constants (your strategies, structures, approaches)
- Communicating both explicitly: “Here’s what remains true, and here’s how we’re adapting to serve it better”
- Confidence and Humility
The balance board reality: You need confidence to step onto the board AND humility to acknowledge when you’re losing your footing.
In practice, this means:
- Projecting confidence in your team’s ability to navigate challenges together
- Admitting uncertainty about specific paths forward: “I don’t know exactly how this will unfold, and I trust we’ll figure it out”
- Seeking input not as a sign of weakness, but as essential data for maintaining balance
- Support and Challenge
The balance board reality: You need to support your team’s efforts AND challenge them to stretch beyond current capacity.
In practice, this means:
- Providing psychological safety while maintaining high standards
- Adjusting expectations when external conditions shift significantly
- Recognizing when your team needs more support versus when they need more stretch
Your Dynamic Balance Practice
This week, notice where you might be trying to maintain balance through rigidity rather than responsive adjustment:
- Daily Check-in: Each morning, ask yourself: “Where am I holding too tightly? What small adjustment might help me stay balanced today?”
- Team Observation: In your next team meeting, notice: Are people bringing you emerging concerns, or only fully-formed problems? (The former suggests they see you as dynamically responsive; the latter might indicate perceived rigidity.)
- Adjustment Experiment: Choose one area in which you’ve been maintaining a firm position. Ask yourself: “What would a small adjustment look like that maintains my core principle while responding to current reality?”
Moving Forward with Flexible Strength
The most effective leaders I work with share a quality: they’re firmly grounded in purpose while remaining remarkably responsive to conditions.
They don’t confuse steadiness with stillness. They understand that maintaining equilibrium in complex systems requires constant, intentional micro-adjustments.
This is what dynamic balance looks like—not rigid immovability, but responsive stability.
Pay attention to what changes when you give yourself permission to make small adjustments rather than trying to hold everything perfectly still.
Until next time,
P.S. If you’re finding it exhausting to maintain organizational balance right now, you’re probably trying to do it through force rather than finesse. I’d welcome a conversation about what dynamic balance might look like in your specific context.
Adventure Time!
Would you like to join me in learning how to integrate a physical balance board into your life? Join me in this adventure – I’ve recently started using one myself, at the suggestion of a wise colleague. It’s changing the way I experience myself in the world!
Get some tips on using a balance board at work in this article.
New in the “Leadership In Action” LinkedIn Newsletter
Did you know that I recently launched a second newsletter called “Leadership In Action”, and hosted on the LinkedIn platform?
I’m using this platform to share practical tools you can use immediately—frameworks, exercises, and templates that address the specific challenges keeping you up at night.
Once a month, I tackle a theme that I’m encountering amongst the leaders I work with, sharing a tailor-made workbook of relevant exercises for a leader and their team.
- September – Optimism
- October – Team Perseverance
And I’m finalizing November’s edition, to be published next week and which will address ‘Anchor Priorities.’
Visit Leadership In Action to read past editions and sign up to receive November’s edition.
EFFECTIVE CHANGE RESULTS FROM INTENTIONAL LEADERSHIP
We’re a leadership and organization development consultancy. My team and I work with leaders like you to prepare for and lead successful change processes.
Here’s why our clients call us:
- Leadership Coaching: I support leaders as they navigate transitions into new roles or expanded responsibilities.
- Group Coaching and Learning Programs: Bringing groups of leaders together, I facilitate learning experiences and months-long programs that equip people to be effective change leaders.
- Effective Teams and Stronger Organizations: I work with leaders and their teams with tailored processes that increase their effectiveness, building layers of aligned teams that transform organizations.