Over the course of my career in Big Tech, I’ve been lucky to work at several successful, fast-growing companies. At Meta and Airbnb, I helped scale research and design teams from 2012 to 2022, ultimately becoming Head of Design Studio at Airbnb.
I loved building teams of talented people, but it wasn’t all roses. Rapid changes and looming crises were constants, as they seem to be at most companies.
For example, I was working at Airbnb when COVID-19 hit in 2020. The company lost 80% of its business in a matter of weeks, and by May, I was forced to lay off more than 25% of my team. Managing that crisis and recovery was one of the most difficult leadership crucibles of my career.
The everyday chaos of a fast-paced company was just as educational, though, and one strategy for managing it rose above the rest.
The secret to effective leadership in times of change — whether it’s reorgs, strategy shifts, or layoffs — is to provide authentic clarity.
Clarity allows people to move forward calmly, even if they don’t have all the answers. In a chaotic environment, providing clarity takes frequent communication in an authentic voice.
Clarity, not certainty
Early in my leadership career, I mistakenly assumed that being a decisive leader in a crisis meant projecting certainty. My logic was that people need to be reassured their leader knows exactly what to do.
I quickly realized that was a fantasy.
I can’t remember a single time in my leadership career when I had all the answers.
Once, in an effort to project certainty, I confidently presented some details using guesswork. But things were moving fast, and the information I shared was proven wrong just days later. What I thought would be useful only made me look foolish and ultimately damaged my team’s trust in me.
After a few failed efforts, I realized my team didn’t need me to have all the answers; they just needed me to provide clarity about what was happening. I learned the importance of clarity in three key areas:
- What is happening? It’s essential to clearly state the facts as you know them, even if they’re incomplete, to help people process what’s happening.
- Why is it happening? Sharing the “what” without the “why” is a key mistake. My understanding of the “why” was usually incomplete, but sharing any context I had helped my teams make sense of it.
- What does it mean for me? It’s usually hard for people to translate high-level changes down to their level. Even simple reminders like “Your day-to-day work won’t change,” or “Here’s when we’ll know how this will affect our road map,” helped people feel calmer.
The best leaders I’ve worked with were proactive about answering these questions, reaching out to teams early and often. I made it a practice to hold frequent Q&A sessions with my teams, and say things like: “Good question, I don’t know. Let me see if I can find out.” I found that even a response like that could be clarifying.
Communicate like a human
People can tell immediately when leaders aren’t being themselves, so it’s important to communicate in your own voice.
Early in my career, I followed instructions from HR or internal comms teams and stuck to the talking points. I used templates for my emails and repeated the language I was given during leadership meetings. But my team quickly called me out, and I realized I was hurting my reputation by communicating like a corporate puppet.
Rather than relying on jargon or HR talking points, I started trying to speak honestly and vulnerably. The strategy I developed wasn’t going rogue in a sensitive situation; it was translating the company’s carefully chosen talking points into my own voice, using empathy.
In practice, this also meant I’d say things like: “I don’t know what’s going to happen either. The uncertainty isn’t great, but I’ll let you know as soon as I know more.”
Or: “This sucks. Layoffs are hard for everyone, especially when it’s good friends and talented colleagues we’re saying goodbye to.”
Acknowledging real things like frustration or mistakes helped build trust by signalling we were all in the same boat.
Repeat yourself. Then repeat yourself.
The No. 1 mistake I’ve noticed leaders make during times of change isn’t just poor communication; it’s infrequent communication.
Even leaders who were good at providing authentic clarity weren’t doing so consistently.
They’d communicate once and assume everyone understood. Or worse, they’d say nothing until they had all the answers, or there was something new to say. But that vacuum would often be filled with gossip and speculation.
I learned the solution was simply to repeat the message. I’d share the most important messages multiple times via several channels and in different words, because different framings might resonate with different people.
People have high anxiety and a short memory in times of crisis. Touching base often, even if there’s little new information to share, builds confidence in a visible, highly present leader. Even without new information, it helps people feel confident that they didn’t miss something.
Leading through change was never about having all the answers
During my Big Tech career, I observed that the most effective leaders in a crisis were rarely the ones with all the answers or the boldest vision. They were the ones who communicated clearly, showed up consistently, and were willing to be authentic. That’s what builds trust and gets teams through chaos.
Representatives for Meta and Airbnb did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.
Do you have a story to share about managing teams through rough seas in Big Tech? Contact the editor, Charissa Cheong, at ccheong@businessinsider.com
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