Luck Favors the Prepared: Technology Leadership During Uncertain Times

Change. Chaos. Shifting sands. Crisis.

All of these words evoke the same uncomfortable feeling: uncertainty. And the truth is, most of us aren’t wired to love uncertainty. We’re wired to react to it.

When the environment around us shifts suddenly, our senses sharpen. We scan for danger. We brace ourselves for impact. It’s basic survival instinct: adrenaline kicks in, and the first impulse is often to freeze, flee, or fight.

But here’s the thing: The world hasn’t stopped spinning.

Change is not the exception, it’s the rule. The question isn’t whether uncertainty will show up at your doorstep. The question is: How ready are you to meet it?

Leading through uncertainty, especially in technology, calls for more than gut reaction. It requires preparation, structure, and focus. It calls for leadership that provides clarity when the path is unclear. In my experience, there’s a simple truth at play here: Luck favors the prepared.

Here’s how to be prepared when times get turbulent.

1) Reflect, Assess and Support: Recenter on What Matters Most

The first move is not to run toward or away from the fire: it’s to take a breath. Pause. Reflect. Focus, then respond.

In times of chaos, leaders who rush to action without reflection often lead their teams straight into deeper confusion. The best leaders know that their first job is to determine what they value and what matters most in the long term.

Ask yourself and your organization:

• What are we here to do?
• What’s most important for our clients, our people, our mission?
• What values will guide your decisions, especially when things get tough?

In these moments, your team needs more than marching orders. They need reassurance and guidance; a reminder that while the situation may be complex, your collective purpose remains clear.

This reflection isn’t passive. It’s a stabilizing force. When anxiety rises, leadership’s role is to project calm and provide focus. You’re not expected to have every answer. But you are expected to show up, stand steady, and support your people as they find their footing.

Strong leadership doesn’t mean having all the answers, it means asking the right questions and standing firm in your values.

How Blue Mantis Helps

• Get a comprehensive Digital Strategy Blueprint for your organization
• Schedule a Technology & Business Alignment Workshop
• Implement an Organizational Change Management framework
• Business leaders can get Leadership Coaching
• Map your organization’s core values to a proven decision framework
• Schedule a Business Impact Assessment with Blue Mantis Cybersecurity experts
• Hire on-demand CISO and CIO talent

2) Inventory & Fundamentals: Know Where You Stand

Before you decide what to do next, you need to understand your current position:

• What is the true state of the business and the state of your IT?
• What resources are available: people, technology, cash flow, partnerships?
• Where are the pressure points, and where are the areas of resilience?

This is not the time to operate on assumptions. Get your hands on real data. Understand the fundamentals. Inventory isn’t just about numbers. It’s also about capability.

• Where are your strengths?
• Where are the gaps that could become vulnerabilities if the situation drags on?

You may discover that it’s time to optimize and reallocate, doubling down on what matters most, trimming back where needed, and freeing up resources to address emerging demands.

A clear-eyed assessment gives you the map you need. It shows you the levers that are available: the ones you may need to pull fast.

3) Be Ready for Action: Prepare Your Levers

Once you’ve reflected and assessed, readiness becomes the focus.

In times of uncertainty, the organizations that navigate best are the ones that have their levers ready to pull.

This is about positioning yourself for both opportunity and threat. Neither one tends to knock politely. Both reward leaders who are paying attention.

Three principles help here:

1. Look for opportunities: Uncertainty often creates space for innovation and growth. Markets shift and potential acquisitions appear.
2. Stay alert to threats: Early detection allows for early action.
3. Adopt a continuous OODA Loop: Observe, Orient, Decide, Act and keep the loop turning. The faster and more thoughtfully you can cycle through this process, the more agile and resilient your leadership becomes.

Scenario planning is critical and building an OODA loop to regularly re-evaluate them based on current circumstances will drive preparedness.  Gartner notes that “One common response across regions is that 53% of CIOs and IT leaders (56% in the U.S. vs. 50% in other countries) are engaging in scenario planning to prepare for different potential outcomes.”

Download your complimentary copy of the Gartner report – Quick Answer: 4 Actions CIOs and IT Leaders Are Taking in Response to U.S. Federal Policies and Tariffs.

Readiness is not frantic. It’s focused. This is the difference between reaction and readiness. It’s not about scrambling. It’s about knowing where the gears are and being ready to engage them. Blue Mantis Advisory Services works with you to develop sustainable Strategic Governance plans for your current business along with playbooks covering every aspect of a merger, acquisition, or spinout. Now that hybrid cloud environments are the norm and 24/7 cybersecurity detection and response services are crucial for business success, Blue Mantis can either help supplement your internal IT team’s capabilities or enable you to outsource those capabilities to us entirely using our comprehensive Managed Services.

4) Stay Grounded: Adapt with Intention

When the pressure rises, it’s easy to chase every change but strong leaders know that focus beats frenzy.

Yes, adjustments are often needed. But success through uncertainty comes from balancing flexibility with stability. It’s about staying true to the mission, even if the tactics need to change.

This is where re-centering on your core values pays off. They become your decision framework to filter choices. They help your teams focus, align, and avoid the chaos trap.

As an example, at Blue Mantis, values like Always There, Judgement Free, and One-Mantis serve as touchstones. In a crisis, these aren’t just words on a wall. They’re decision filters. They remind the team that success isn’t about reacting louder than everyone else — it’s about showing up for your clients and each other, with integrity and unity.

The world will keep spinning. The sand will keep shifting. But luck favors the prepared. Leaders who show up prepared, stay clear on what matters, and lead their teams forward with purpose will be more successful in uncertain times.

Final Thought

Uncertainty is uncomfortable. But it’s also inevitable.

When you lead with reflection, assess your fundamentals, stay ready for action, and hold the course with steady hands you do more than just barely scrape by in uncertain times: You give your organization the chance to be successful throughout them.

Partner with Blue Mantis to turn uncertainty into a strategic advantage. Let’s meet to discuss how we can accelerate your success.

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Gartner, Quick Answer: 4 Actions CIOs and IT Leaders Are Taking in Response to U.S. Federal Policies and Tariffs, 21 April 2025, Jan-Martin Lowendahl, Vibhor Upreti, Ishan Kaul

GARTNER is a registered trademark and service mark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally and are used herein with permission. All rights reserved. This graphic was published by Gartner, Inc. as part of a larger research document and should be evaluated in the context of the entire document. The Gartner document is available upon request from Blue Mantis.