Leading in the Waiting Phase

Many people sense it but struggle to name it.

A quiet pause.
A collective holding of breath.
A feeling of being between what was and what has not yet fully formed.

Teams are functioning. Work is getting done. Life is moving forward. And yet, there is a subtle but persistent sense of waiting: waiting for clarity, energy, motivation, or momentum to return on its own.

This is not a failure of leadership.
It is not a lack of resilience.
It is not something to push through or fix.

It is the current human condition, and it deserves to be acknowledged as such.

Naming the Stunned Phase

In positive psychology, growth does not begin with force. It begins with accurate perception. Before change, there is recognition. Before action, there is acceptance.

What many individuals and organizations are experiencing now can be understood as a stunned phase:

• •Not in crisis, but not fully alive
• •Not disengaged, but not deeply connected
• •Not lost, but unsure of direction

This phase is often misread as resistance or complacency. But research in positive psychology suggests something else is happening. When people are asked to adapt repeatedly without time to integrate meaning, motivation naturally flattens. The system pauses not to stop progress, but to recalibrate.

"Well-being is not just the absence of distress; it is the presence of positive functioning."

Martin Seligman, founder of positive psychology

When positive functioning, connection, meaning, engagement, has been disrupted, the human response is not to sprint forward. It is to slow down until those elements can be restored.

Redefining "Normal" Through a Positive Psychology Lens

The desire to "get back to normal" assumes that normal is something external, something we return to once conditions improve.

But positive psychology reframes this entirely. According to Seligman's well-known PERMA model, well-being is built from:

• PPositive emotion
• EEngagement
• RRelationships
• MMeaning
• AAccomplishment

What's striking is that none of these require certainty, speed, or perfection. They require alignment with what is real.

Leadership today is not about restoring old rhythms. It is about creating coherence inside new ones.

From Waiting to Grounded Action

One of the most misunderstood ideas in positive psychology is optimism. It is not blind positivity. It is realistic hope: the belief that action matters, even when conditions are imperfect.

"How do we get out of this?"
to
"How do we lead well from here?"

• •Rebuilding agency by giving people meaningful choices
• •Strengthening relationships through honest conversation
• •Restoring engagement through work that feels purposeful
• •Defining accomplishment in ways that are human and attainable

What Leadership Looks Like in the Waiting Phase

• •Creating spaces where people can name what they are experiencing without judgment
• •Modeling steadiness rather than urgency
• •Reconnecting teams to purpose through reflection and dialogue
• •Allowing progress to be iterative instead of performative

When leaders stop fighting the pause and start leading within it, something shifts. Trust deepens. Energy returns. Action becomes sustainable again.

An Invitation Forward

The waiting phase is not something to escape. It is something to lead within.

Positive psychology teaches us that well-being and effectiveness grow when people feel connected, capable, and purposeful, even before conditions feel ideal.

Those who can accept the present moment honestly are the ones who shape what comes next.

Not by returning to what was.
But by building, thoughtfully, humanly, and sustainably, from what is.