Leading Under Pressure: Attachment, Regulation, and the Inner Work of Leadership in a VUCA World

Abstract The author, founder of CZB Consultancy, writes about how the VUCA acronym (volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity) applies to both external and internal conditions for today's leaders. She says that leaders have dealt with “stress, conflict, and uncertainty” in their lives not just in their various professional roles, but going back to childhood. “Attachment theory,” she writes, “originating in developmental psychology, examines how we learned to regulate stress and emotional needs beginning in childhood. From the earliest days of life through our formative years, experience and exposure wove an intricate web of coping mechanisms designed to help us survive, adapt, and belong.” She has intensively studied this phenomenon during the past decade, and has applied it in her work with executives. She notes that “high stakes moments such as the management of a multimillion‐dollar budget, the closing of a pivotal business deal, or the decision to restructure are all opportune moments for attachment styles to quietly move into the driver's seat. This is because the nervous system does not differentiate between a broken toy and a high‐risk board decision; it responds to perceived threats based on learned patterns.” She also provides suggestions for leaders who, in their patterns, lean either avoidant or anxious.