Executive summary
Leading through uncertainty means using the pressure instead of waiting it out. A crisis makes the cost of standing still visible to everyone, which makes changes possible that would stall in calmer times. Leaders who use that window come out stronger. Leaders who freeze spend the year in a holding pattern.
- Only 27% of Canadian CEOs expect Canada's economy to improve in the next year, down from 42%.1
- CFIB's long-term small business optimism index fell 10 points to 47.9 in September 2026 after new U.S. tariffs, and more employers planned to cut staff than to hire.2
- Fewer than half of CEOs believe their organizations are agile enough to adapt and execute, and only half say their governance is simple enough for speed.3
Leaders who use a crisis well make three moves:
- Decide: they act on the best information available and agree in advance what would make them change course.
- Choose: they protect a short list of priorities and use the pressure to make the decision that has been stuck for years.
- Carry people with them: they lead with the plan as well as the problem, and give managers what they need to act.
Uncertainty is now the normal setting for Canadian business
Canadian leaders are planning through tariffs, cost pressure, a slower economy and an AI shift, all at once. PwC's 2026 CEO Survey found Canadian CEOs more pessimistic than their global peers: 47% expect global growth to improve, against 61% of CEOs globally.1
Smaller businesses feel it sharply. CFIB reported that 50% U.S. tariffs on roughly $28 billion of Canadian goods took effect in August 2026, and 22% of small business owners described their business as weak or critical.2 For many sectors, tariffs show up as supply costs, cancelled orders and a planning cycle that resets every few weeks.
The pressure to modernize hasn't paused. AI keeps moving whether the economy does or not, and Gartner lists mobilizing leaders for growth amid uncertainty among HR leaders' four priorities for 2026.4 Leaders are being asked to cut and invest, protect and change, in the same quarter.
A crisis makes standing still expensive, and that opens a window
Across more than 80 organizations, I've seen one rule hold. It is a lot easier not to change, unless not changing is more painful than changing. In normal times, the pain of the status quo is spread thin. Everyone can live with a slow process or an overlapping team for another year.
A crisis changes the math. When costs jump or revenue drops, the price of standing still is visible to everyone at once. Decisions that would take a year of meetings can happen in a month, because nobody can defend the old way anymore.
The question is whether leaders use that window to make the organization stronger, or spend it cutting in ways that leave the same problems in place with fewer people to carry them.
Leadership in a crisis breaks down in six places
Two breakdowns are about deciding, two about choosing and two about carrying people.
01. Waiting for certainty that won't come. Leaders hold decisions until the picture clears. In 2026 it may not. Every week of waiting is a week of capacity spent on holding patterns.
02. Governance gets heavier under pressure. Approvals multiply and more people want a say on every dollar, just when speed matters most.
03. Cutting evenly. Across-the-board cuts feel fair and are easy to explain. They also starve the work that matters most and protect the work that matters least.
04. Good ideas freeze along with everything else. Changes that would improve margin, service or speed get paused, because pausing everything is simpler than choosing.
05. People hear the problem without the plan. People can handle bad news. What wears them down is bad news with no direction attached.
06. Managers are left without information or authority. Managers absorb the cost pressure, the new processes and their teams' worries. Without information and the authority to act, the plan stalls at their level.
Leading through uncertainty takes three moves
Decide. Make the best call available with a date to revisit it, and agree in advance what signals would make you change course. Bain found CEOs are least confident in exactly the capabilities turbulence demands, including course correction.3 Deciding your triggers ahead of time is how you build that capability. Shorten approval chains while you're at it. This fixes breakdowns 01 and 02.
Choose. Protect the few priorities that will matter most when conditions improve, stop work that doesn't and say so plainly. Then name the change everyone has tolerated for too long, the process, structure or decision that has been stuck for two years, and make it now. This fixes 03 and 04.
Carry people with you. Every update covers what is happening, what the organization is doing about it and what it means for the person listening. Brief managers first and give them clear authority within their area. This fixes 05 and 06.
The uncertainty readiness test
Six questions, one for each breakdown.
- Which decisions are you holding until things settle, and what would it cost to make them now?
- Is your governance getting simpler under pressure, or heavier?
- If you had to cut 10% of your initiatives tomorrow, do you already know which ones?
- What change has your organization avoided for more than a year that this pressure now makes possible?
- Do your people know the plan, or only the problem?
- Do your managers hear changes before their teams, and can they act without escalating?
What leaders who use a crisis well do in practice
1. They date every big decision. Each major call is made with a review date and the specific signals that would reopen it.
2. They suspend non-essential approvals. For the duration of the pressure, they cut sign-off layers and name a single owner for each spending category.
3. They rank and fund a short list. Three to five priorities keep full funding. Everything else is ranked, and cuts start at the bottom.
4. They name the stuck decision. The leadership team agrees on the one long-avoided change it will make while the window is open, and assigns an owner and date.
5. They use a three-part update. What is happening, what we are doing, what it means for you, in every message.
6. They brief managers first. Managers get the message, the reasons and the answers to likely questions before their teams do.
Bring Never Waste a Good Crisis to your event
Never Waste a Good Crisis is my keynote on leading change when the pressure is on. I tailor it with stories, financials and details from your industry, and I talk enough about AI and technology change, tariffs and supply costs that people see it is about them and also bigger than them.
It is practical for everyone in the room, whether they lead people or not, because everyone has to take ownership of how they move their work forward. It works for leadership conferences, association summits, AGMs and kickoffs in a tough year.
I deliver it as a 45- to 90-minute keynote, in person or virtual, with a custom tip sheet for your attendees after the event.
Conclusion: the cost of waiting
Uncertainty is now the normal setting for Canadian business. Leaders who wait for it to pass will spend the year in a holding pattern. Leaders who decide, choose and carry their people will make the changes their organizations have needed for years, and be ready when conditions turn.
A crisis makes standing still expensive. That is the one thing it gives leaders, and it is worth using.
Read next: Change Fatigue
Frequently Asked Questions
What does leading through uncertainty mean?
Leading through uncertainty means using the pressure instead of waiting it out. When the cost of standing still is visible to everyone, leaders can make changes that would stall in calmer times. They decide, choose what matters and carry their people through it.
How do leaders lead through uncertainty?
By deciding with incomplete information and agreeing in advance what would make them change course, protecting a short list of priorities, using the pressure to make long-stuck decisions, telling people the plan as well as the problem and giving managers the information and authority to act.
What does "never waste a good crisis" mean for business?
It means using the pressure of a crisis to make changes that would stall in calmer times. When costs rise or revenue drops, the price of the status quo becomes visible to everyone, so long-stuck decisions become possible.
How are tariffs affecting Canadian businesses in 2026?
CFIB reported that 50% U.S. tariffs on roughly $28 billion of Canadian goods took effect in August 2026, long-term small business optimism fell to 47.9 in September and more employers planned to cut staff than to hire. PwC found only 27% of Canadian CEOs expect Canada's economy to improve.
Should companies freeze projects during a downturn?
Pausing everything is simple but expensive. A better approach is to rank: protect the few priorities that will matter most when conditions improve, stop work at the bottom of the list and use the pressure to make overdue changes.
What makes an organization agile in a crisis?
Clear decision owners, simple governance, agreed triggers for changing course and managers who have the information and authority to act. Bain found fewer than half of CEOs believe their organizations are agile enough to adapt and execute.
Who is this keynote for?
Leadership teams, association and industry conferences, AGMs and kickoffs facing economic pressure, technology change or restructuring. Each talk is tailored with industry stories and numbers.
About Suzanne Knight
Suzanne Knight, MBA, MA, is a keynote speaker and the CEO of mBolden, a Toronto-based management consulting firm (mbolden.co). She has led transformation in the Ontario government, at Deloitte for nearly eight years, as Director of Organizational Effectiveness at Philip Morris International in Canada, and as VP, Transformation Services at Walmart Canada.
She has advised more than 80 organizations in 14 countries, including Fortune 500 companies and governments, and has spoken on more than 65 stages in 18 months. Her TEDx talk is The myth of doing it all. Her keynotes are The Next Big Thing, Never Waste a Good Crisis, The Trust Advantage and Create More Time.
Sources and references
- PwC Canada. (2026, January). 29th Annual Global CEO Survey, Canadian findings (133 Canadian CEOs). Source ↗
- Canadian Federation of Independent Business. (2026, September). Business Barometer. Reported by HRD Canada. Source ↗
- Bain & Company. (2026, June 1). The 2026 CEO Agenda: Where Ambition Outpaces Execution (survey of 100 CEOs). Source ↗
- Gartner. (2026, January). 2026 HR Priorities Survey (426 CHROs). Reported by HRD Canada. Source ↗