The mandate on the Accelerating Operational Performance podcast has always been clear: to help you improve in your current role, position you for future promotion, accelerate your projects, and generally help you get more done with less stress. In a world that seems to be in a constant state of flux, these goals are more relevant than ever.
Recently, we had the privilege of sitting down with James Coolidge, a Senior Director at Ahria Consulting and a purpose-driven leader and certified executive coach. James brings over 30 years of experience guiding organizations and individuals through change, growth, and transformation. His career, spanning national nonprofits, social enterprises, and consulting, has given him a unique perspective on leadership.
As we discussed the current manufacturing landscape—businesses grappling with tariff uncertainties, shifting supply chains, and the rapid adoption of new technologies like AI—it became clear that the traditional leadership playbook often falls short. Leaders, like most of us, love certainty, but we’re living in a period where certainty is a rare commodity. This conversation with James provided some profound insights into how leaders can not only survive but truly thrive in this environment. You can listen to the full episode here or watch it here.
Here are four insights from our conversation that I believe are crucial for any leader looking to accelerate their operational performance and build a resilient team:
Insight 1: Embrace Reframing and Cultivate Cognitive Flexibility to Navigate Uncertainty
One of the most powerful concepts James shared was the absolute necessity of reframing our challenges and cultivating cognitive flexibility. My experience over three decades in this business tells me that disruption has always been a constant. While it might feel faster and more furious these days, the need to adapt is not new. However, what James highlighted is how we react to this constant change.
He explained that in traditional, linear thinking, organizations operate on an “A plus B equals C” model. When B is suddenly removed or fundamentally altered, our established mental models struggle to adapt. The longer we’ve operated in a linear, efficiency-focused system, the harder it is to shift when the environment demands adaptive thinking. We’ve formed ingrained mental models of what should work, and when it doesn’t, frustration and blame often kick in. Our limbic system and amygdala, driven by high emotions and memories of past successes, tend to complete a narrative of blame—on workers, supply chains, or senior leaders—rather than understanding the true, unknown situation.
This is where James’ advice to slow down and get curious comes into play. It’s about consciously stepping away from the gut reaction, from the “system one thinking” that Daniel Kahneman describes as fast and reactive. Instead, we must challenge those ingrained mental models and enter a process of “sense making” to truly understand what is happening. As I often tell people, it’s about “staying curious, not furious”.
It’s about asking ourselves, “What story am I telling myself about this situation?”. And then critically examining if that story, which is often just an interpretation, is truly serving us. By consciously shifting that narrative and exploring alternative possibilities, we can unlock tremendous potential for resilience and breakthrough. James pointed to appreciative inquiry as a powerful technique for this. Instead of dwelling on the problem, we can flip it to its opposite and then elevate it to an opportunity. This reframing allows us to see the unknown not just as danger, but as an opportunity for reinvention and growth.
Insight 2: Foster Psychological Safety for Peak Team Performance
This was an insight that resonated deeply with me, especially when thinking about our Site Leader Development Program (SLDP) for plant managers. Our goal there is to increase effectiveness through greater empowerment and accountability, freeing up senior leaders for higher-value tasks. But for that empowerment to truly work, teams need to feel safe. James reinforced this by emphasizing psychological safety as a core component for high-performing teams.
Psychological safety is about creating an environment where team members feel safe to question, challenge, and offer solutions without fear of reprisal or negative consequences. As leaders, the vibe we give off to our team members profoundly impacts their sense of security. If they perceive that we don’t have time for their input or might react negatively to challenges, they will withhold valuable observations and potential solutions.
James offered some fantastic, practical tips for strengthening psychological safety:
- Show authenticity and vulnerability. Leaders don’t need to have all the answers. Admitting when you don’t know, or acknowledging you might be wrong, builds trust and makes it safe for others to do the same.
- Demonstrate you have time for input. In our busy roles, it’s easy for team members to sense if we’re genuinely open to their questions or if we’re just rushing through. Making time, truly listening, and engaging with their concerns is vital.
- Create a space for questioning and challenging. Team members need to feel empowered to push back if they believe a proposed action won’t achieve the desired outcome. Even if the leader ultimately decides to proceed as planned, the fact that the team member felt safe to voice their concern is good.
- Foster a sense of locus of control: When individuals feel they have a say in the outcome, it boosts their intrinsic motivation. They feel seen, heard, and valued for their skills, experience, and knowledge.
The benefits of a psychologically safe workplace can be enourmous. James highlighted that you get much better productivity, and importantly, you hear about problems before they occur, often accompanied by potential solutions. This proactive identification and problem-solving can save organizations significant time and money. It’s about leveraging the collective intelligence of your team, not just their manual labor.
Insight 3: Harness Mindfulness and Emotional Maturity for Strategic Leadership
You may be wondering how leaders can manage their own internal states amidst external chaos? This is where the concepts of mindfulness and emotional maturity come into play as indispensable tools for effective leadership. I know some might dismiss mindfulness as “hocus pocus,” but James emphasized that research is increasingly showing its practical value for leaders.
He explained that mindfulness practices help leaders spend more time in “system two thinking”—that deliberate, executive function thinking—rather than being constantly reactive. Our brains are phenomenal, but sometimes they need a gentle nudge to move from the automatic, gut-feeling responses to more thoughtful, strategic consideration.
There is a simple yet effective mindfulness exercise James mentioned—the five senses technique:
- What are five things I see?
- What are four things I hear?
- What are three things I smell?
- What are two things I can touch?
- What’s one thing I can taste?
This kind of grounding in the present moment frees up mental space, allowing us to think more clearly.
Beyond mindfulness, James stressed the importance of acknowledging emotions. We often tell ourselves that we don’t make emotional decisions, but he rightly pointed out that every decision is, in fact, emotionally based—either in emotional favor of or emotional resistance to something. Personal emotions, even those from outside work, can impact our strategic thinking. This isn’t just about emotional intelligence; it’s about emotional maturity—the ability to elevate and appropriately manage the emotions we’re feeling.
Leaders need to calm themselves down, ground themselves, and perhaps most importantly, remind themselves that the unknown doesn’t automatically mean danger or trouble. Instead, by taking the time to think, we can identify emerging opportunities and pathways for reinvention or scaling up. This shift in mindset, from fear to possibility, is a direct result of enhanced emotional self-awareness and regulation.
Insight 4: Adopt the “Who, Not How” Approach and Leverage Environmental Scanning
This insight directly relates to the pressures leaders feel to have all the answers, especially in uncertain times. I’m a big proponent of the “who, not how” concept, which I first encountered in a book by Dan Sullivan of Strategic Coach. It posits that when you feel stuck on how to deal with a problem, you should instead ask, “Who can help me deal with this?”. James expanded on this, explaining the neurological reasons why our brains tend to narrow our focus and how we can counteract it.
He introduced the reticular activating system (RAS), a part of our brain that filters incoming sensory information, allowing us to see what we’re familiar with and need to process, while keeping out overwhelming stimuli. This system, while protective, can also limit our perspective when faced with novel challenges like AI or new market shifts. We might hear stories of how something impacts others, but our RAS might not naturally show us how it impacts us.
This is why, as leaders, we must consciously ask: “Who can I bring to the table that has experience in these areas?”. This isn’t about our opinion of the environment; it’s about environmental scanning—proactively pulling in diverse individuals who can challenge our assumptions, enlarge our perspective, and introduce new concepts that our brains might not otherwise register. Under stress and uncertainty, our natural tendency is to narrow our point of view, but this is precisely when we need to do the opposite.
This is a great reminder that as a leader, the role isn’t necessarily to know everything, but to explore and discover. And that discovery process involves tapping into the collective intelligence and diversity of your team and peers. By actively seeking out those who can provide different insights, we ensure that decisions are based on a broader, more accurate understanding of the environment, rather than being limited by our own cognitive filters or biases.
Anchoring in Your Authentic Self
Our conversation with James truly underscored the large role that ongoing training and support play in developing effective leaders and addressing performance gaps. James’ insights beautifully tie together the cognitive, emotional, and practical aspects of leadership. He reminds us that good leadership in uncertain times isn’t about knowing all the answers, but about anchoring into your authentic self, reflecting on your responses, and proactively seeking diverse perspectives.
By doing so, we can achieve three critical outcomes:
- Regulate Uncertainty: Moving from reactive fear to thoughtful sense making.
- Enhance Risk-Taking Abilities: Understanding that the unknown holds opportunity, not just danger.
- Leverage Dynamic Capabilities: Utilizing our collective skills and knowledge to adapt and innovate in constantly changing environments.
If you’re looking to deepen your own leadership capabilities or support your team through change, I encourage you to consider the power of tailored leadership development. Reach out to us at uniquedevelopment.com for more information, or to Ahria Consulting if James’ expertise resonates with your organizational or personal needs.
Did you enjoy this blog?
Here are some related topics that you may find interesting:
Dean Crawford: Leadership Development for Peak Operational Performance
Reeve Southam: A Human-Centered Approach to Optimizing Manufacturing Processes
