When Change Walks In, Fear Often Follows: Leading Through Uncertainty Without Losing Your Top Performers
Organizational change is a lot like surprise home renovation: you think you're just getting new countertops, and suddenly someone is knocking down a wall you emotionally depended on.
And here’s the truth we don’t like to say out loud: even your top performers get scared. Especially your top performers.
Why?
Because high achievers tend to ask high-achiever questions like:
“Is the work I built still valued?”
“Do I still matter here?”
“Should I be polishing my résumé or is that just my anxiety speaking again?”
Fear-based decisions don’t come from weakness, they come from uncertainty. And uncertainty loves to slide into the driver’s seat anytime an org says the words “transformation,” “restructure,” or “we’re going in a new direction” with the same calm tone airlines use right before telling you your flight is now six hours delayed.
The Empathy Gap in Organizational Change
The HBR article that inspired this (thank you to the wise ones at Harvard) makes a point leaders regularly skip:
Change isn’t hard because of strategy, it’s hard because of humans.
The real work of transformation isn’t the org chart rewiring.
It’s:
How you talk to your people,
What you don’t talk about (yet),
And how they feel in the silence.
Empathy isn’t soft. It isn’t “nice to have.”
It’s retention.
It’s morale.
It’s performance insurance.
Because without it?
Rumors rush in to do the job leadership didn’t.
But Here’s the Messy Middle: Clear is Kind… Except When You Can’t Be Clear Yet
Ah, Brené Brown. Patron Saint of Transparency.
“Clear is kind.”
And yes, it is.
But here’s where leaders get stuck (hi, it’s me 👋):
Sometimes clarity isn’t available yet.
Sometimes you’re still mid-negotiation, mid-presentation, mid-corporate-political-maze.
Sometimes you truly can’t tell people what’s shifting… even though you wish you could tattoo it on their forearms.
Holding something confidential while also trying to lead with empathy is the emotional equivalent of patting your head and rubbing your stomach while juggling. Blindfolded. On a treadmill.
So what do leaders do in the in-between?
How do you stop the fear spiral without over-promising, prematurely announcing, or blowing up something sensitive?
The Balance: Communicate Without Over-Communicating
Here’s the sweet spot I’ve learned (and yes, I have the scars to prove it):
1. Name the uncertainty without pretending it doesn’t exist.
Nothing spikes anxiety faster than leaders acting like everything is perfectly normal while the building is clearly on fire.
Say something like:
“We’re in a period of transition. I don’t have all the details yet, but I promise to share what I can, when I can.”
That one sentence does more for morale than 40 minutes of corporate jargon.
2. Re-affirm your top performers before their imagination gets the best of them.
High achievers?
They catastrophize like it’s an Olympic sport.
Remind them:
“You’re valued. Your work matters. Nothing about that is in question.”
It costs you nothing. It saves you everything.
3. Focus on what’s staying the same, not only what might change.
People cling to anchors.
Give them one.
4. Don’t weaponize optimism.
“Everything will be fine!” can feel dismissive.
Try “I know this feels unsettling. You’re not imagining it.”
Validation is rocket fuel.
5. When clarity becomes available, move fast.
Delay is where fear breeds.
Transparency is where trust repairs.
The Real Danger: Fear-Based Decisions (Because They’re Quiet Until They’re Not)
The thing about top performers?
They rarely announce they’re nervous.
They:
Work harder
Get quieter
Smile through the stress
And then one day… they leave.
Not because they wanted to.
Because fear outran facts.
This is why empathy isn’t the “soft skill.”
It’s the retention strategy.
Leading Through Change Requires Emotional Range, Not Perfection
Change leadership isn’t about always knowing the answer.
It’s about guiding people without losing yourself, or your humanity, in the process.
Here’s what I remind myself:
You can be transparent without oversharing.
You can be reassuring without making promises you can’t keep.
You can admit uncertainty without admitting defeat.
And yes, some things must stay behind the curtain for a while.
But your people don’t need answers as much as they need connection.
If you can give them that?
They’ll weather the storm with you.
If you can’t?
Fear will make their decisions for them.
And fear… well, fear has never written a great retention story.