By Kiah Calmese Walker, Ally Carr and Sarah Bass
4-minute read
In chess, the queen isn’t the most powerful piece on the board because she commands attention. She’s powerful because she sees the entire field differently. She protects. She anticipates. She positions others for what comes next before disruption arrives.
The strongest leaders operate in the same way.
In a world accelerating toward automation, AI and constant uncertainty, people are starving for leaders who see the humans behind the strategy. Successful transformation is never just about speed. It’s about understanding the human impact of every move before it is made.
Simon Sinek once said, “There’s this notion thrown around often that people fear change. No, they don’t. People fear sudden change. What they fear is unfamiliarity, the insecurity, the loss of credibility, the loss of what’s working for them. You have to meet people where they are and so, empathy is king.”
Checkmate, Simon.
Every minute of every day, we’re changing. What unsettles is the fear, discomfort and lack of control that can make them question whether their value is diminishing.
Right now, team members may be pondering, “What happens when AI takes center stage in the minds of our leaders? How will I learn to use AI fast enough to keep up? Will I have time to learn with patience and room to make mistakes?”
When sudden change becomes the opponent, employees may feel forced to make high-stakes moves without seeing the full strategy. In chess, one poorly timed move can cost the game; in organizations, it can erode confidence, credibility, trust, motivation and alignment. For leaders interested in winning, this is where “heartset” comes in. Because if empathy is king, then heartset is queen – the force that protects people while positioning organizations for what comes next.
Valuable contributions, valuable insights
In moments of transformation, people naturally question whether their skills and contributions will still matter. It’s human to question whether there will be security, support and space to prepare for what lies ahead.
Organizations approaching change benefit from environments where team members can question, learn, share, teach, test and fail forward. Psychological safety gives people room to think strategically instead of reacting defensively to the next move. It also creates space that recognizes legacy knowledge and team member contributions as valuable insights for designing and pressure testing change.
A recent Harvard Business Review article highlights research linking psychological safety and retention, emphasizing that safety is a “requirement,” not a “luxury.” Researcher Amy Edmondson explains that being open about not knowing and rewarding interpersonal risk-taking can “provide a foundation for doing the hard things necessary when crisis hits.”
Taming fear
Leaders can help team members combat fear of the unknown by developing a courageous leadership heartset that does three things. It refuses to ignore the value of people. It’s willing to find ways to capture, harness and learn from team member feedback, legacy knowledge and organizational culture. And it focuses on building capacity and capability for the future rather than fighting fear and resistance rooted in the past.
Start here
Lean into fear with curiosity, empathy and expectancy.
Sometimes the most transformative learning happens in the face of fear. “Make room for humble inquiry” to better understand what’s behind workforce anxiety, what triggers it and what could happen if it goes unchecked. Build psychologically safe listening skills that help leaders learn from the current state. Give team members room to mourn what they may be losing, while helping them envision the productive possibilities change can bring.
Heartset leadership recognizes that fear is often a systems signal before it is ever a people problem. Ambiguity, missing resources and decisions that are disconnected from operational realities create instability long before resistance ever surfaces. Leaders willing to lean into the unfamiliar must ask not only whether their workforce is prepared for change, but also whether the organization itself has done the work to position people for success several moves ahead.
Build change readiness through generational connection and collaboration.
Learn from the wisdom and perspective of the current state and those who helped design it. Historical perspective matters. As American author, poet and civil rights activist Maya Angelou said, “You are the sum total of everything you’ve ever seen, heard, eaten, smelled, been told, forgot- it’s all there. Everything influences each of us, and because of that I try to make sure that my experiences are positive.” Essentially, the quote reminds us that acknowledging the experience, expertise and skillsets of those who built the systems we’re now charged with evolving is vital.
At the same time, younger generations bring perspective that can help organizations see what’s next more clearly.
Applying to the business sector the philosophies of psychiatrist Frantz Fanon and entrepreneur and philanthropist John Hope Bryant, recognize that youth has vision, not baggage. And if we want to stay relevant, we must learn to see the world through their eyes. Research on intergenerational technology adoption suggests that younger colleagues can help close technology gaps by translating complex digital language into terms that feel more accessible and less intimidating. The strongest change leaders harvest value across all perspectives, generations and experience levels.
Cultivate change leadership with transparency, humility and integrity.
Take inventory of whether leaders at every level are equipped to guide people through change and sustain the future state. Then strengthen or reconcile gaps where needed.
Successful transformation depends on leaders’ abilities to move people, systems and operations forward while keeping the organization intact. Before focusing on workforce resistance, consider whether leaders are positioned to optimize, execute and seize transformation opportunities.
- With strong heartsets for building psychological safety that neutralizes fear of sudden change.
- To create space for skillset development through learning, testing, problem solving, innovative discussion and solution ideation.
- With strategic mindsets focused on five, 10 or 15 years down the line instead of micromanaging the day-to-day work.
- To build and integrate change strategy toolsets that support communications, planning and transformation leadership.
Perhaps the most important question is: Does your organization have the change management intelligence, tools or resources to equip them?
Elevate heartset as a core leadership discipline for navigating change strategically. Heartset is not soft leadership. It’s strategic leadership – shaping governance, communication, resource allocation and the daily signal leaders send about whose voices matter.
The future of healthcare leadership will not belong to the leaders who react the fastest to disruption. It will belong to the leaders who prepare people for what comes next before uncertainty arrives. To the leaders who understand that transformation is sustained not by process alone, but by people. To the leaders who are willing to lead two sets ahead.
Because if empathy is king and heartset is queen, then the most powerful leaders are the ones courageous enough to lead with both.
