Between AI disruption, shifting markets, and political upheaval, uncertainty has reached a new level. And teams are feeling it, leaving leaders questioning how to keep their people focused, engaged, and moving forward.
As part of our ongoing Ask the Expert series, where we put the questions keeping business leaders up at night to the people best positioned to answer them, we asked Bruce Kirkby — how do I keep my team from shutting down under uncertainty?
Bruce is uniquely positioned to answer this. He is an internationally renowned adventurer, bestselling author, and television host, whose journeys have spanned more than 80 countries and 2000 days, He’s crossed Arabia’s Empty Quarter by camel, descended Ethiopia’s Blue Nile Gorge, and sea kayaked Borneo’s rugged coastline. Along the way, he has emerged as one of the leading voices on personal and organizational growth in times of disruption, uncertainty, and change.
Here’s what he had to say.
Answers have been edited for length and clarity.
Is Your Team’s Fear Response Working Against Them?
The less certainty there is in the world, the more certainty we look for in our life. That’s natural.
The fundamental idea I try to share about fear is that yes, it’s pointing towards danger — but it’s also pointing towards growth. Too often we only see the danger, because it’s such a profound feeling and our instinct to turn away is so strong.
As leaders, we can help our teams — or ourselves — counteract that instinct to run just by taking a pause. When we feel that fear, pause and remember that it’s telling us something. That it’s pointing us towards an opportunity too.
Think of a pool. We don’t have to dive into the deep end. We just have to wade in and get our toes wet. We can always find a shorter distance to travel towards the thing that makes us uncomfortable — but it’s essential that that’s the direction we move.
Why Playing It Safe Can Be the Riskiest Move
Our protective mode arises in times of crisis and non-routine situations. In an adventure setting, it’s really clear when we need to be protecting our assets, our people. You just know that. But I think we get that response system going and then apply it to everything — we become hypervigilant and miss those opportunities.
A big lesson of nature is that you have to take what nature gives you. We’re a little too used to trying to dictate our own terms — deciding this is how things are going to go, we’re going to make it happen, we’re going to do the hike today, we’re going to reach this point. Life doesn’t work that way, we have to be open for the opportunities within that uncertainty.
Your Team Is Consuming. But Are They Growing?
The thing that drives me to the wilderness is simple — I just love it. Being outside is where I’m supposed to be. I know that.
One of the fundamental ideas I try to share is that the outdoors is just the arena I’ve chosen. But we all have our place. And as humans, we are fundamentally meant to grow — we’re growing machines.
The challenge with growth is twofold. The first is that we all understand sustained, continual growth is the foundation of high performance, enduring excellence, and deep satisfaction. But it’s also very easy to put it off. It’s a long game. So you tell yourself you’ll do it tomorrow, and after enough tomorrows, it just turns into regret.
The second challenge is something I’m seeing more and more. We live in a golden age of learning — in five minutes you and I could learn the fundamentals of landing a jumbo jet, crocheting a rug, whatever. It’s all there. And so it becomes like beachcombing. We doom scroll, we go through 99 things that are garbage, we find that hundredth thing and think, that’s really good. We hit save. And we never look at it again.
Because you learn by doing. You don’t learn by watching. You don’t learn by reading or thinking about it.
Adventure is my way of doing — but we all have our way. Whatever that pool is, wade in and get your feet wet.
You Can’t Control the Conditions, But You Can Keep Moving
Last summer, I went out on the BC coast with a buddy. We were planning to paddle around a big headland. We got out there and the seas were six to eight metres — winter storm conditions in the middle of summer. We worked our way out to the mouth of the bay, spent a few days poking around some protected waters, and it was obvious we weren’t going anywhere. We waited. The winds picked up instead. So we came back. We went back this summer and we got it done.
More from Bruce Kirkby
Bruce’s travels have taken him from the world’s highest mountains to the wildest rivers and driest deserts. He draws on these extraordinary experiences to provide real-world, practical lessons on growth, resilience, change leadership, and risk management. See more of our conversation with Bruce below.
How do I rebuild team momentum after challenging times?
What’s the fuel behind a productive workplace culture?
How do you keep pushing for personal growth throughout life’s challenges?
Book Bruce Kirkby for Your Next Event
Fear, uncertainty, and the gap between knowing you need to change and actually doing it — these topics are the difference between teams that grow and teams that stall. Bruce brings a rare combination of extreme experience and practical frameworks that give audiences a clear picture of exactly where growth breaks down, and the tools to push through it.
Contact us to learn more about Bruce Kirkby and what he can bring to your next event.
