What you should do if your boss keeps changing direction

When Clara came to me, she was exhausted, confused, and, for the first time in her career, starting to feel she was losing her ability to lead effectively. That morning, her boss had done the same thing he’d been doing every week for the past seven months. He had once again changed his thinking on the direction she and her team should be moving. Not two days earlier, she had left a one-on-one with him feeling confident about what he was asking for, and she had communicated the pivot to her team. Now, suddenly, in a meeting with the rest of the leadership team, he announced a radically different concept from what they had already decided. This was typical of him, and deeply destabilizing for her. Each time it happened, she felt at a loss for what to do. Pushing back in the meeting felt way too vulnerable, and he didn’t seem to be hearing her concerns in their one-on-ones. It was exhausting and overwhelming, and she was not the only one feeling it. Her team was increasingly short with each other, mistakes were being made more frequently, and there was a sense at all levels that people were feeling disconnected and poorly equipped to do their best work. What Clara was describing is a…