Panic Is Not a Strategy.

Why Leaders Who Can Make Sense of Chaos Matter More Than Ever.

The news is flying at us, but what’s really happening?On Monday evening, 19 January,  Beatrice de Graaf and Mart de Kruif appeared on Eva Jinek’s programme. Whilst viewers were being bombarded with news reports about Greenland, Venezuela and European threats, the historian and the general did what leaders ought to do: they helped us see what was actually happening. No panic. No easy conclusions. Simply: perspective.

It’s tempting in these times to move with every shock, every tweet, every alarming report. But what De Graaf and De Kruif demonstrated is that leadership begins with the ability to tell the story that lies beneath the news. They take you back to the lecture hall, they said. They place today in the context of yesterday. They make patterns visible where others see only noise.

That is storytelling in its most essential form: not the invention of a pleasing narrative, but the interpretation of reality in a way that helps others understand what is unfolding. It’s a skill we expect from leaders – perhaps more than ever. We live in an extremely volatile world. Leaders are expected to keep a cool head. To maintain overview. To sketch perspective. To preserve calm and focus. So that they become an example for their professional environment to mirror.

The question is not whether there is chaos. There always has been. The question is: who can help us understand what that chaos means? Who has the capacity not to get swept up in the frenzy, but rather to bring calm through explanation? Who tells the story that helps?

In organisations, that talent is scarce. Too often we see leaders who themselves become lost in the storm, or worse: who stoke the storm further with yet more alarming news. But the leaders who truly matter, they are like De Kruif and De Graaf. They bring structure to the chaos. They tell what lies behind the headlines. And in doing so, they give others the possibility to make well-considered choices themselves.

You are welcome to exchange thoughts about coaching or finding and selecting leaders who possess effective storytelling talent, can sketch perspective and maintain composure in turbulent times.

Warm regards,

Aegeus