5 Skills Every Leader Needs in the Age of Anxiety

We are leading in one of the most anxious moments in recent history. The attention economy, the age of outrage, nonstop news cycles, and the pressure to have an answer for everything — it's a lot. And most leaders are moving from confusion straight to action without ever stopping to get clarity. In this episode, Alan Briggs shares five necessary skills he believes every leader needs right now. Not hacks. Not productivity tips. These are the deeper practices that keep you grounded, tethered, and leading with conviction instead of anxiety, even when everything around you feels like it's spinning. This is fresh teaching from Alan. He describes it as something that was crystallizing for him in real time. And if you've been feeling the weight of these anxious times in your leadership, this one is for you. What You'll Learn: Why the antidote to overwhelm is not certainty — it's clarity, and how fighting for even 5% of it shifts everything What it really means to listen to understand — and why this skill matters most when change is highest The gift of Sabbath and micro-rest that most leaders have left unwrapped for years How to discern when and how to respond to crisis — and why you are not a PR firm required to comment on everything Why you need to audit who and what you're listening to — and what to do when your inputs are producing bad fruit The most counterintuitive leadership shift Alan has seen in a decade: trading winning for faithfulness What changes when you lead from conviction and Spirit-guided wisdom instead of pressure and anxiety Key Insight: When overwhelm is high, the antidote is not certainty — it is clarity. And when you fight for even a small amount of clarity, overwhelm and clarity have an inverse relationship. One goes up, the other comes down. Reflection Questions: What would change if you led from conviction and Spirit-guided wisdom instead of pressure or anxiety? Of these five skills, which one do you most need to lean into right now — and what's one step you can take this week? Resources Mentioned: Right Side Up Journal — coaching companion tool (available on Amazon) Want More? For coaching, resources, and tools to help you lead as a Healthy + High Impact leader, visit www.h2leadership.com.