If you’ve followed along in this blog series, you’ve likely started to see a pattern: great leadership during change doesn’t come from a dramatic speech or single bold move. It comes from a consistent, grounded presence. From meaningful conversations. From intentional, human-centered practices.

When change is swirling around you and within you, it’s the small, daily actions that keep you steady. These are the habits that help you show up, stay focused, and move forward with purpose.

In this final piece of our Steering the Ship series, I want to share a few simple, yet powerful tools that I’ve seen transform the way leaders guide their teams through complexity. These aren’t theoretical. They’re real tools you can use today.

What’s in Your Leadership Toolkit?

As a coach and consultant to executive teams for over 25 years, I often get asked:

“Karen, how do I keep showing up when it feels like everything is changing around me?”

Here’s the truth: you don’t need to have all the answers. But you do need to stay rooted in what matters.

These three tools, when used consistently and with care, can deepen your leadership presence and expand your team’s trust, engagement, and performance.

1. The Morning Minute Exercise

Pause. Breathe. Lead with intention.

Before you dive into emails, meetings, or your to-do list, take one quiet minute. Ask yourself: “What does my team need most from me today?”

That’s it.

Let the answer guide your actions.

Maybe today your team needs clarity.

Maybe they need calm.

Maybe they need a decision, or your ear, or your presence.

Once you’ve identified that need, let it shape how you lead that day. Focus on satisfying that need before moving on to the next thing.

This simple practice has helped so many of the leaders I work with practice mindfulness and reframe their days. It shifts the focus from output to impact. From urgency to purpose. It reminds you that leadership isn’t about doing more. It’s about showing up for what matters most.

2. The Trust Triangle

Care. Clarity. Consistency.

Trust doesn’t appear overnight. It’s built moment by moment through your actions and your presence.

When I work with leadership teams facing major transformation, I often introduce what I call The Trust Triangle. It’s a simple framework that serves as a gut check for decision-making and communication. Before you move forward, ask:

Care – Have I demonstrated that I genuinely care about the people impacted?
Clarity – Have I clearly communicated what’s happening and why?
Consistency – Are my actions matching my words, over time?

If even one of these elements is missing, trust begins to erode. When you can lead with all three, especially during times of uncertainty, you create the kind of grounded, authentic leadership that teams rally behind.

One executive I coached recently shared that just keeping this triangle on a sticky note beside her desk helped her reframe difficult conversations and regain alignment with her team. It became a compass.

3. The Feedback Loop

Create space and safety for real conversation.

The best leaders I know are listeners. In times of change, listening is a priority!

The Feedback Loop is about more than asking for opinions. It’s about creating regular, safe opportunities for honest dialogue around what’s working and what’s not.

Here are a few ways to build it into your culture:

Create time in team meetings to surface what’s helping and what’s hindering. Share why feedback is an important benefit for the team.
Invite anonymous input if needed, especially when trust is still developing.
Ask open questions like:

“What’s one thing we should keep doing?”
“What’s one thing we should reconsider?”
“What’s something you wish leadership knew right now?”

And here’s the key: Close the loop. Let people know how their input is shaping decisions, even if it doesn’t lead to immediate change.

In one of my recent engagements, a leader used The Feedback Loop to uncover a simple systems tweak that saved her team hours of duplicated work every week. The solution had been there all along. They just hadn’t created the space to talk about it.

Small Habits, Big Impact

You don’t need a revolutionary plan to lead well through change. You need rhythm. You need awareness. You need tools that help you show up consistently, clearly, and with heart.

The Morning Minute, the Trust Triangle, and the Feedback Loop are your anchors.

They’ll help you stay connected to your team, confident in your choices, and courageous in your presence.

So I’ll ask you:

What’s already in your leadership toolkit?
And what new habit could you try this week?

Remember, leadership isn’t just about managing change. It’s about cultivating the kind of environment where people feel safe, seen, and supported as they grow through it.

That’s the kind of leadership that endures and transforms.

Would you like support in implementing these tools with your executive team? Let’s talk. Reach out here to schedule a conversation.