Ready Position: Developing Personal Leadership Resilience To Navigate Uncertainty

The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ASPA as an organization.

By Kelly Shih
October 10, 2025

External factors like policy priorities, funding, workforce capacity and technological change are ever changing for public service leaders. The only real constant is that whatever the goals for a community, strong leadership is critical.

For government leaders, the capacity to know themselves, understand the environment and take appropriate actions is key to not just surviving times of uncertainty but to emerging more resilient to lead cities, counties or states through future challenges.

That is why “becoming self-aware” is the first competency in the Public Service Leadership Model—the standard for effective government leadership developed by the Public Service Leadership Institute® at the Partnership for Public Service.

Using the model’s values and competencies unique to public service, here are three approaches, directed at leaders who aspire to use their positions most effectively.

Be grounded

Imagine two tennis players waiting to receive a serve. One stands with feet apart, knees bent in “ready position.” The other stands up straight on tiptoes. Who has a better chance of getting to the ball? Clearly the former, whose grounded stance allows for movement in any direction depending on what their opponent does.

Grounding serves the same purpose in leadership—providing a solid foundation from which you can react to the best of your ability no matter what gets thrown at you. Part of that foundation is knowing your leadership values.

In times of uncertainty, you will have less information to make decisions and more ambiguity in assessing risk and consequences. When faced with insufficient data but a mission imperative, how do you move forward? This is where values are essential.

Say, for example, in a crisis response meeting, a colleague presents an idea that senior leadership latches onto. You see long-term risks for residents but know that you will not be the most popular person for raising them because everyone is trying to respond quickly. You hesitate, concerned about your reputation. But when you remember that your core values include courage and service, you must speak up.

Top Tip: Determine your top five personal leadership values (with a list like this). This is a useful exercise even for seasoned leaders. Revisiting something this essential—even if your list doesn’t change—keeps it top of mind in your leadership.

Act in alignment

To align your values with your leadership style and behavior, self-regulation—one of the five components of emotional intelligence—is critical. It is the bridge between your inner thought process and your outward actions. As a leader, it can have an outsized impact on those around you, especially in stressful times.

Back to tennis: imagine you just lost the last point despite a full sprint and almost tripping. With approximately 30 seconds in between, how do you rebalance to start the next point at your best?

We have all had destabilizing moments like this. Resetting and reacting productively—versus being emotionally hijacked and acting impulsively—requires intention and making a conscious choice.

Cultivating this kind of mindfulness takes consistent practice to become muscle memory for when you need it. A classic approach is meditation, but it is not the only one. Journaling, breathing exercises, walking or other movements can hone your ability to stay present.

Top Tip: When you sense signs of agitation—like physical tension or elevated heart rate—that might impact your decision-making or interactions with others, use this phrase: “I am aware that…” (e.g., “I am aware that my heart is beating faster” or “I am aware that I’ve stopped listening”). This puts mental space between outside stimuli and your response, allowing for a different choice in how you react.

Reflect and learn

To round out our tennis analogy, one of the recent innovations in professional tennis is that on-court coaching is finally allowed during matches. Whereas this used to be penalized, you will now hear coaches and players sharing advice or encouragement between points.

Reflection and feedback turn experiences that you merely survive into experiences that fuel growth. After-action reviews originated in the U.S. Army to help soldiers grow from their successes and mistakes. Institute some kind of after-action review for yourself as a leader to perpetuate a virtuous cycle of gaining confidence while learning and building longer-term resilience.

Coaches, mentors and trusted peers are essential partners to give you different—often clearer—perspectives on your progress. They can ask you guiding questions, workshop complicated situations, hold you accountable for the practices you want to implement and encourage you during times of change and uncertainty.

Top Tip: Pursue a structured mechanism for feedback on your leadership. This can range from a regular supervisor check-in with set questions (e.g., “What am I doing well as a leader?” or “How can I improve?”) to a leadership 360 assessment (like our Public Service Leadership 360) with feedback from managers, peers and direct reports.

This column was written under the auspices of Barrett and Greene, Inc.

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Author: Kelly Shih, Strategy Lead for the Public Service Leadership Institute, Partnership for Public Service

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