Why Experience Shows Up Differently During Storms

 Experience reveals itself most clearly during periods of uncertainty—not because experienced leaders are immune to disruption, but because they understand how uncertainty behaves. Storms don’t just test strategy or resilience; they test how well people can function when clarity is incomplete and outcomes are not yet visible.

Over time, I’ve come to believe that what distinguishes experienced leadership in these moments is not certainty or speed, but the ability to move thoughtfully while ambiguity is still present.

I’ve been thinking about this recently, in part because I’ve been rewatching Mad Men. What obviously stands out is how limited agency was for so many people inside those organizations—particularly women and people of color. Access to information was constrained, decision-making power was tightly held, and the ability to influence outcomes was reserved for a small group. Much of what we now associate with visibility, voice, and choice simply wasn’t available.

The contrast with today is striking. We now operate in an environment defined by access: information moves instantly, voices travel beyond formal hierarchies, and more people have tools to participate in shaping outcomes. At the same time, that progress is being challenged politically and socially, creating a deeper layer of uncertainty about what will hold and what may recede. The storm, in this sense, is not only external change, but the tension between expanded agency and growing instability.

In that environment, experience matters differently.

Agility Without Overcorrection

Periods of change—whether driven by market shifts, new ownership, organizational restructuring, or cultural pressure—often trigger a desire to act quickly. Movement can feel like control, especially when clarity is elusive. Experience tempers that instinct.

Agility, as I’ve come to understand it, is not about reacting faster than everyone else. It is about adapting without losing coherence. It allows for flexibility while maintaining direction, and it resists the urge to rewrite everything simply because conditions feel unsettled.

Leaders who have weathered change before tend to ask different questions; What is actually shifting? What remains true? Where will intervention make a meaningful difference, and where will it simply add noise? That discernment doesn’t slow progress; it prevents unnecessary anxiety for themselves and their teams.

Ambiguity Is the Hardest Condition to Lead Through

Change is difficult, but ambiguity is often what makes it stressful. When people struggle during periods of disruption, it is rarely because the work itself is impossible. More often, it is because they don’t yet understand what the change means for them, for their teams, or for the future of the organization.

As referred to more than once in Mad Men, Honoré de Balzac captured this dynamic well when he wrote, “Our worst fears lie in anticipation.” In modern organizations, where information is abundant, but clarity is not, anticipation quickly fills the gaps—and may even create craters of unnecessary angst. Assumptions harden. Anxiety grows. Energy is spent imagining outcomes rather than navigating reality.

This is where leadership should show up most meaningfully. The effort to diminish ambiguity—to explain what is known, acknowledge what remains unresolved, and outline how decisions will be made—is not performative reassurance. It is a stabilizing act.

In my experience, leaders who take this responsibility seriously create steadiness even when answers are incomplete. Naming uncertainty rather than avoiding it helps people stay oriented and engaged. Especially now, when access is broad and expectations are high, that work is not just helpful; it is invaluable.

Restraint as a Form of Strength

Another way experience shows up during storms is through restraint. With time, leaders become less compelled to prove decisiveness through constant action and more comfortable allowing understanding to catch up with events.

Restraint does not mean avoidance or passivity. It means intervening where it matters most and resisting the pressure to overcorrect. During change, restraint creates space for clearer thinking, better alignment, and decisions that endure beyond the immediate moment.

When Storms Become Catalysts

Not every storm is something to survive. Many become catalysts for growth.

Periods of disruption expose assumptions that no longer hold, structures that need to evolve, and narratives that require updating. With experience, leaders learn to see these moments not only as risks to manage, but as opportunities to clarify direction and strengthen coherence.

The question shifts from how to get through the storm to what this moment makes possible. Organizations and teams that emerge strongest are rarely the ones that moved the fastest. They are the ones that learned while they moved, using uncertainty as a forcing function for better decisions rather than a reason for constant motion.

Perspective as a Leadership Asset

There is a quiet confidence that comes from having been through change before. Not the same storm, but storms nonetheless. Over time, I’ve learned which decisions have lasting impact and which ones only feel urgent in the moment.

That is why experience shows up differently during storms. It does not eliminate uncertainty, but it places it in context. And in periods of sustained change, context—paired with a genuine effort to reduce ambiguity—may be one of the most valuable leadership assets there is.