The Skills We Can't Afford To Lose, Especially When Times Are Tough

Denver N. Ritz, Head of Talent Development & Organizational Effectiveness, Hormel Foods

Leaders often shift into survival mode when uncertainty, economic pressure, constant change, or organizational restructuring hits. Attention narrows to results, efficiency, and solutions. That response is natural. But after 21 years in learning and organizational effectiveness, I’ve seen what often gets left behind: the leadership behaviors that build real resilience and long-term success.

When under pressure, we tend to minimize what holds our cultures together. The irony is that in the most challenging moments, those are the behaviors we need most.

Here are a few skills and habits that often go quiet during tough times and why we must keep them not only present but amplify them.

Empathy is often the first thing to fade when urgency takes over. Leaders focus on managing deadlines and deliverables and lose sight of the human side of work. But empathy builds trust, strengthens connections, and keeps people engaged through uncertainty.

Tip: Take time to check in on people, not just projects. Manage work, lead people.

Constructive Feedback: Stress can cause leaders to avoid or deliver feedback in ways that create tension. Yet feedback, when given with care, provides clarity and direction. Growth does not stop during chaos.

Tip: Be direct and kind. Feedback should never go quiet, especially in challenging moments. Are team members offering you candid feedback as a leader? Are you asking for feedback? If not, you have work to do.

"Create an environment of support, autonomy, and psychological safety, and encourage smart risk-taking"

Curiosity: High-pressure environments often shrink our perspective. Teams play it safe, and then innovation slows. Curiosity is what moves us forward. Create an environment of support, autonomy, and psychological safety, and encourage smart risk-taking.

Tip: Inspire insights by asking more questions and making fewer statements. This encourages your team members to explore problems and not rely on others to solve them.

Recognition: Celebrating progress can feel unnecessary when time and resources are tight. But without it, people burn out. Even a small acknowledgment makes a significant impact. Also, we need to get better at expressing appreciation. You’ll be surprised how far this can go in forging lasting and productive relationships with team members, peers, and other leaders.

Tip: Say thank you more. Appreciate effort, not just result. Strategic Patience: Urgency has a big voice. Unfortunately, not everything requires immediate action. Rushing leads to reactive decisions that often cause more problems later. Strategic patience allows for thoughtful analysis, enabling better long-term outcomes. It’s about recognizing when to act and when to wait, understanding that timing can be just as critical as the decision itself.

Tip: Slow down. Know the difference between what is urgent and what is simply noisy.

When times get tough, some leaders do not rise to the occasion and fall back on familiar habits. So, the real question is this: What habits are you reinforcing when things get tough? Leadership’s responsibility is not just to guide our teams through uncertainty. It is to protect the culture and behaviors that create long-term strength. Empathy, curiosity, feedback, recognition, and patience are not soft. They are strong, and they are more essential now than ever.

Pause, reflect, and ask yourself:

Which of these skills do you see most often sidelined when pressure rises? How will you help keep them present in your organization?.