Volatility underscores need for calm leadership

Now a senior global executive coach and business adviser, Hoyos knows a thing or two about fear, and volatile markets, global instability and waves of tariff announcements and tariff suspensions don’t shake him. Nor should they faze you.  

An advocate for a concept he calls “self-leadership,” he’s on a mission to coach leaders to rein in their own emotions in times of crisis and change, so they can face the world with realism, flexibility, creativity and “unshakable emotional intelligence.” 

Like other consultants who are quoted in my story on dealing with turmoil, Hoyos said planning and analysis are important in this era, but so is being able to adapt. That path isn’t necessarily straight ahead, as business consultant Rebecca Homkes says in the story. 

Hoyos and Homkes both describe strategies characterized by constantly learning and tacking toward long-term goals.  

“You should do planning, but you should not be attached to the plan; you should be attached to the end goal,” Hoyos said. “Because when you’re in the crisis, crazy things are happening, you’re going to have to adjust this every single day.” 

Beginning with the COVID-19 pandemic, the last few years have been marked by “madness,” as Hoyos calls it. How you deal with it is your own choice. 

But, as the other consultants also told me, panic will only make things worse. 

Hoyos said he believes too many leaders aren’t in any condition to make good decisions.  

“They’re in reactive mode. So, they’re already overflooded with cortisol, with urgencies, and they’re not thinking properly,” said Hoyos, a member of the Forbes Coaches Council and advisory council member of Harvard Business Review. 

For him, coping comes down to staying calm in the storm and doing some of the things your mother might recommend: Breathe, prioritize, meditate, sleep, eat right.  

“If I’m dealing with this constant change, these increasing pressing demands … so many things are happening at the same time … it just has to start really with the basics,” he said.  

If you’re overwhelmed, Hoyos suggests ignoring most of what’s on your to-do list.  

“If you’re navigating day-to-day crisis and changes, long plans don’t apply. Long-term goals, yes; long-term plans, forget it. You’ve got to have a macro plan based on your non-negotiable goals. … Let’s say we’re going to do one thing: what’s the non-negotiable?” 

To break things down, define your most important priorities. Take on the top 20 percent. 

If that’s too many, try tackling the 20 percent of that 20 percent, or break down that increment once more. 

Many people distract themselves with the 80 percent that perhaps is easier to handle, but the benefit is far less. Crossing them off the list is a cheap dopamine hit but ultimately gets you nowhere, Hoyos said. 

“In other words, if you have 100 things that you could possibly do, do one really well,” he said. “If I had only one chance, that’s what I would do. …Typically, when you do that, you solve a lot of the problems, using the principle that, like, 50 percent of the problems, they run away.”  

Hoyos compares building resiliency to deal with stress to working out in a gym. It takes time, reps and a sense of purpose. 

Having battled cancer as a teenager, Hoyos, who now lives in Brazil, decided to embrace it.  

“I ended up 12, 13 years later, I was in North America, in North Carolina, the amputation was at Chapel Hill hospital, but the fact that I always believed that there was a reason for that to happen, it made all the difference. Because then every time something happens, I don’t think that’s happening to me; I think that’s happening for me.” 

What does he say it got him? 

Everything.  

It’s why he can advise business leaders to take in the turmoil, learn from it, accept it and keep going.  

And, he says, be sure to breathe.