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680. Certainty Is a Myth — Stability Is a Discipline · Daily Influence

• 0:10
  [SPEAKER_01]: Welcome to Daily Influence, your daily dose of positive influence.
• 0:14
  [SPEAKER_01]: I'm Brian Smith founder of IA Business Advisors and co-author of the Iain team series.
• 0:19
  [SPEAKER_01]: Each day we share stories and insights to help you find be and build your influence in a positive and responsible way.
• 0:27
  [SPEAKER_00]: And I'm Greg Clino, partner at IE Business Advisors, and co-host of Daily Influence.
• 0:32
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• 0:39
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• 0:48
  [SPEAKER_01]: Hey everybody, Brian Smith here with the I'm team series and your daily influence and you know today I've just been thinking that for the past few years I've heard leaders say some version of the same thing once things settle down what the market stabilizes when we get back to normal but you know here's the truth I don't think normal is coming back I think there's like this new normal.
• 1:14
  [SPEAKER_01]: And I think that's the evolution of normal, that there never is, something that always stays the same.
• 1:21
  [SPEAKER_01]: You know, regulations, shift technology accelerates, capital titans, politics, polarized, talent expectations evolve.
• 1:31
  [SPEAKER_01]: Certainty is a myth.
• 1:33
  [SPEAKER_01]: And the leaders who keep waiting for it,
• 1:36
  [SPEAKER_01]: slowly drift into reaction instead of direction, and today I want to challenge a dangerous assumption that stability comes from the outside.
• 1:46
  [SPEAKER_01]: It doesn't.
• 1:47
  [SPEAKER_01]: Stability is not something you wait for, it's something that you build.
• 1:51
  [SPEAKER_01]: Everyone needs to stop waiting for normal.
• 1:53
  [SPEAKER_01]: it was never stable to begin with.
• 1:56
  [SPEAKER_01]: We romanticize the past as predictable, but if you look closely every era had volatility, we just understood its rhythms better and what feels destabilizing now is speed and visibility.
• 2:11
  [SPEAKER_01]: AI cycles move in months, markets react in minutes, social narratives shift in hours, but instability is not new.
• 2:19
  [SPEAKER_01]: What's new is our expectation that leadership should feel certain.
• 2:23
  [SPEAKER_01]: In the IM team series, we emphasize individual influence.
• 2:27
  [SPEAKER_01]: That means accepting that leadership begins with internal responsibility.
• 2:32
  [SPEAKER_01]: not external conditions.
• 2:34
  [SPEAKER_01]: If your leadership depends on called markets, aligned politics, or predictable technology cycles, you really don't have leadership.
• 2:43
  [SPEAKER_01]: You have preference.
• 2:44
  [SPEAKER_01]: And preference collapses under pressure.
• 2:47
  [SPEAKER_01]: Mature leadership accepts volatility, this permanent, and builds structure anyway.
• 2:54
  [SPEAKER_01]: So let's talk about external volatility versus
• 2:59
  [SPEAKER_01]: You cannot control tariff shifts, AI disruption, capital markets, culture, polarization, or competitive behavior.
• 3:08
  [SPEAKER_01]: But you can control meeting cadence, decision frameworks, accountability rhythms, communication clarity, financial visibility,
• 3:18
  [SPEAKER_01]: and behavioral standards within yourself and your organization.
• 3:23
  [SPEAKER_01]: That's the difference between volatility and instability.
• 3:26
  [SPEAKER_01]: Volatility is external movement.
• 3:29
  [SPEAKER_01]: Instability is internal disorder.
• 3:32
  [SPEAKER_01]: Organizations don't collapse because markets move.
• 3:35
  [SPEAKER_01]: They collapse because discipline erodes.
• 3:38
  [SPEAKER_01]: This is where responsible influence becomes real.
• 3:41
  [SPEAKER_01]: Your team is watching your emotional regulation.
• 3:47
  [SPEAKER_01]: If you fluctuate with headlines, your cultural fluctuate with you.
• 3:51
  [SPEAKER_01]: But if your structure holds weekly metrics, six to 60 planning discipline, measurable tactics, feedback loops, then your organization feels stable even when conditions are not.
• 4:03
  [SPEAKER_01]: Stability is not calm conditions, it's consistent structure.
• 4:08
  [SPEAKER_01]: Look, smart planning is adaptive discipline, not smart prediction.
• 4:14
  [SPEAKER_01]: Many leaders misuse smart.
• 4:16
  [SPEAKER_01]: They treat it like prediction.
• 4:17
  [SPEAKER_01]: We said a goal, we forecast the outcome.
• 4:20
  [SPEAKER_01]: We expect the environment to cooperate.
• 4:22
  [SPEAKER_01]: That's not smart management.
• 4:24
  [SPEAKER_01]: Smart is not about being right.
• 4:27
  [SPEAKER_01]: It's about being disciplined, specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and timely.
• 4:33
  [SPEAKER_01]: When volatility hits, smart doesn't collapse.
• 4:37
  [SPEAKER_01]: it adjusts.
• 4:38
  [SPEAKER_01]: You shorten cycles, you increase feedback frequency, you clarify ownership, and you measure tighter.
• 4:45
  [SPEAKER_01]: The discipline remains even if the direction shifts.
• 4:49
  [SPEAKER_01]: This is the six to 60 mindset.
• 4:52
  [SPEAKER_01]: Plan six weeks tactically, see 60 months strategically, adjust constantly in between.
• 4:58
  [SPEAKER_01]: Smart is not rigidity, it's structured adaptability, and that's what creates stability and unstable errors.
• 5:07
  [SPEAKER_01]: So look at your weight even for the world to calm down before you leave boldly.
• 5:11
  [SPEAKER_01]: You may be waiting forever.
• 5:12
  [SPEAKER_01]: Certainty is a myth.
• 5:14
  [SPEAKER_01]: Stability is a discipline.
• 5:16
  [SPEAKER_01]: You cannot control volatility, but you can control structure.
• 5:20
  [SPEAKER_01]: You can control rhythm, you can control clarity, and you can control your influence.
• 5:26
  [SPEAKER_01]: And in an era defined by instability, discipline leadership becomes a competitive advantage.
• 5:32
  [SPEAKER_01]: This is not about predicting the future.
• 5:34
  [SPEAKER_01]: It's about building an organization strong enough to navigate it.
• 5:38
  [SPEAKER_01]: So I can tell next time, lead intentionally, that we will see you again on Daily Influence.