How To Lead Through Uncertainty Without Losing Your Nerve

Slav Kulik didn’t inherit a playbook for uncertainty—he wrote his own. Arriving in the U.S. from Ukraine as a teenager with nothing, he worked his way up through various companies before going on to build three software companies from scratch, two of which sold for eight figures. Today, his company, Plan A Technologies, operates across 17 countries on five continents, solving mission-critical problems for Fortune 500s and scrappy startups alike.

The philosophy that enabled that momentum and scale is simple, if not easy: you don’t freeze when the world gets unpredictable. You keep moving. “In business, nothing is linear, and the sooner you can accept that reality, the better off you are,” says Kulik. By refusing to allow himself to be paralyzed by external headwinds like recession, market volatility, geopolitical shocks, technological disruptions, he’s been able to maintain forward momentum. During the pandemic, for example, when competitors hunkered down, slashing headcount and grabbing government lifelines, Kulik took the opposite tack: “We didn’t lay anyone off and we didn’t take a penny of government money. We kept investing in building and hiring even when projects were getting put on hold. That gave us a lot of credibility with our team and our clients, and it set us up beautifully to grow faster during the rebound.”

In the following Q&A, Kulik lays out the principles that let leaders project steadiness without sugarcoating reality, experiment without drifting off strategy, and keep teams hopeful when the path ahead refuses to reveal itself. He also digs into the communication side of crisis leadership, likening uncertain times to turbulence on a plane: “If the pilot looks lost, everyone panics,” he says. “Same with leadership. People watch you closely, not just what you decide, but how you communicate. If you’re vague, if you hide, never talk to them, the team will fill in the blanks themselves—and they never fill them with good things.”

You’ve said that no one can see the future and even perfect decisions can be derailed by unexpected events. Walk me through your specific process for making decisions when you have incomplete information.

In business, nothing is linear, and the sooner you can accept that reality, the better off you are. You must always expect the unexpected, and that’s why we’ve learned to embrace a few core principles.  

First, trust your instincts. I think there is real power in being willing to let go of what was. You’ve really got to listen to your gut, learn and adjust along the way even when it’s messy. That’s where the lessons show up, and why it’s so important to keep going even when the next steps seem impossible. When the path forward is unclear, take this as an opportunity to lean into your instincts and execute whatever is next. Never underestimate yourself and your creativity. Some of your best work can emerge when your back’s against the wall.

Second, gather objective data. Even if you don’t have all the information, pull together all the info you do have. Seeing everything in one place can help clarify the best path forward.

Third, keep evolving. Business, technology, culture…everything keeps changing. Good businesses need to be able to change and adapt as well. When we’re making tough decisions, we try to make sure we’re using the past as a guide, but only a loose guide, so that we can make sure we’re thinking about the problem given how the world will look in a few years, not how it looks today.

Before finalizing any decision, we ask ourselves, “What am I not seeing here, and what else could be going on?” This last gut check lets us catch some of the other dynamics that may be at play.

Can you give me a concrete example of a major decision you made during uncertain times at Plan A Technologies, including what factors you weighed and how it turned out?

When the pandemic was starting and everything locked down, we didn’t lay anyone off and we didn’t take a penny of government money. We kept investing in building and hiring even when projects were getting put on hold. That gave us a lot of credibility with our team and our clients, and it set us up beautifully to grow faster during the rebound.

You said you and your business partner try to make decisions by “imagining what our future selves would tell us to do.” Can you elaborate on this technique with a specific scenario?

We often ask ourselves, “What would our future selves say to us in this situation?” because it’s a great imaginative exercise. By projecting ahead, you can gain clarity into the long-term implications of your current decisions. This technique helps a person to make choices that align with one’s ultimate goals and values, rather than being swayed by short-term pressures or immediate gratification. It’s about taking a broader perspective and considering the long-term consequences of your decisions.

It helps us to see beyond the immediate need and consider the long-term impact on team dynamics and company culture. It encourages us to prioritize quality and sustainable growth over quick wins.

This approach also fosters a sense of accountability. By imagining our future selves, we’re essentially holding ourselves responsible for the outcomes of our decisions. It’s an easy way to ensure that our choices are not just reactive but are instead deliberate and aligned with the long-term vision for Plan A Technologies. It helps us to navigate uncertainty by helping stay focused on who we want to be and what kind of company we want to have in the years to come.

You’ve emphasized that leaders can’t be uncertain just because times are uncertain. What specific communication strategies do you use to project confidence while acknowledging real challenges?

Think about it like flying a plane: If there’s turbulence, the passengers look straight at the cockpit. If the pilot looks lost, everyone panics. Same with leadership. People watch you closely, not just what you decide, but how you communicate. If you’re vague, if you hide, never talk to them, the team will fill in the blanks themselves—and they never fill them with good things.

That’s why I like to keep communication open and direct. Every senior leader is available and is happy to talk with anyone who has questions or suggestions.

Beyond open communication, it’s crucial to be transparent about what is known and unknown. When facing challenges, leaders should address the situation head-on by leading with facts: “Here is what we know, here is what we don’t know and here is our immediate action plan to move forward.” This approach avoids sugarcoating and allows the team to understand the reality of the situation without resorting to speculation.

It’s also important to reassure the team that even though plans may change, there is a path forward.

Can you describe a time when you had to modify your plan during uncertain times and how you communicated those changes to keep the team focused and hopeful?

One time, we were deeply involved in a major digital transformation project for a long-standing client, and things were progressing smoothly. Then, completely out of the blue, their CIO was fired. This was a huge curveball, as the CIO had been our main point of contact and a strong advocate for the project. Our entire plan, which was built around their leadership and vision, suddenly felt like it was on shaky ground.

We quickly realized we couldn’t just keep going as if nothing had happened. Our immediate plan to roll out the next phase of the project had to be put on hold. We needed to understand the new leadership’s priorities and gain their trust, especially with the interim CIO stepping in.

We had several internal meetings to discuss the situation and our strategy. We ended up shifting our priority to making the new interim CIO comfortable and showcasing our progress compared to what we promised, as we were well ahead of plan and under budget. We immediately scheduled a series of introductory meetings, not just to update them on the project, but to genuinely listen to their immediate concerns and any new ideas that they had for the project. We provided comprehensive, yet concise, briefings on the project’s status, highlighting key successes and potential areas for their immediate impact. We proactively offered support and resources, demonstrating our understanding of their challenging transition.

Our focused effort quickly paid off. The interim CIO appreciated our proactive approach and the stability we offered during a turbulent time for their organization. In fact, not only did the project get back on track, but the new leadership, seeing our dedication and strategic partnership, actually increased their spending with us by expanding the scope to include additional digital initiatives they had been considering. By being transparent and presenting a clear path forward, even in the face of an unexpected challenge, we ultimately strengthened our relationship with the client.

What’s your framework for determining how much uncertainty to share with your team versus how much to shield them from?

I tell the team what’s going on—good or bad. The important thing is to be clear, fair and if there’s a challenge, you talk about the plan for facing that challenge.

You’ve said that anyone claiming they built their first startup without mistakes is “a liar or delusional.” Can you share a specific mistake you made and how you turned it into organizational learning?

My statement still holds true. If I had to think of an example, it would be a mistake we made way back in our first year, when we were hiring for hard coding skills without paying enough attention to adaptability and soft skills. We found ourselves with incredibly bright people who were technically proficient, but when unexpected challenges arose or projects shifted, they struggled to pivot or weren’t friendly enough.

We quickly learned from our mistakes and overhauled our hiring practices to really hone in on cultural fit. We now incorporate behavioral interview questions and scenario-based assessments to gauge a candidate’s problem-solving approach, resilience and ability to collaborate. We still look for those hard skills, but we also look for individuals who demonstrate curiosity, a willingness to learn and a proactive attitude towards change. When you have that type of talent behind you, there’s really nothing that can get in your way.

How do you distinguish between mistakes worth learning from versus those that indicate fundamental strategy problems?

Even the geniuses here on Earth make mistakes, so there’s really no other way around it. If you’re experimenting, you’re going to screw some things up—and that’s fine. That’s science, right? Experiment, observe, adjust. It’s the same process that drives progress in business too.

The way I see it, every mistake is worth learning from. I do look at the kind of mistakes being made. A one-off mistake? That’s an execution miss. A pattern that keeps showing up? That’s a signal that the system’s broken.

You said some businesses thrive during difficult times by staying nimble and relevant. What specific practices help you “keep listening” to staff and customers during crisis periods?

We like to stay connected to our team through a few different channels:

First, we host regular Town Hall Meetings where we take the opportunity to open the dialog between leadership and our employees to not only showcase company business results, but to review our upcoming initiatives, and recognize team or individual achievements to ensure we’re celebrating our wins together.

Second, we conduct anonymous surveys to solicit honest feedback from our team. We’ve built a culture where we welcome feedback and make adjustments to improve our work environment by listening to our team members.   

Third, our management team has regular, ongoing weekly meetings to make smarter, data-driven decisions and build stronger teams and morale; and our team members have regular meetings with their talent advocates—people whose job it is to help our staff succeed.

Can you give me an example of how you adapted Plan A Technologies’ approach during the pandemic or other recent challenges?

Look, bad stuff is always going to happen—that’s a guarantee. Whether it’s geopolitical or pandemic or computer hackers, or whatever…you need to build an organization that can roll with the punches.

Embedding in organizational resilience, that ability to take a punch, is critical for any company that wants to stick around. So what was the play? We went back to Darwin: “Survival isn’t about being the strongest, it’s about being the most adaptable.” Flexibility is in our DNA.

For us, that means building a company that can evolve without cracking. If people are scared every time the environment shifts, you don’t have resilience—you have fragility. We wanted the opposite. We wanted a team that actually gets stronger when things take a turn.

We also need to remind people that roles will change, so if you are here, you are here to grow, to flex, to adapt. Period. That’s why we bake flexibility into the entire employee journey: hiring, onboarding, education, promotions. And it’s not just internal. It’s external, as well…clients, new or old, we adapt right alongside them, because their world shifts too.

How do you balance optimistic decision-making with realistic risk assessment?

When weighing your options, you’ve got to get really honest with yourself by not ignoring the reality in front of you. The trick is to remain hopeful and optimistic but recognize the stone-cold facts of what you’re up against. It’s a delicate balancing act.