Is BANI the New VUCA? — A Guide For Confident Change Leaders

In a world that’s broken loose from the VUCA (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, and Ambiguity) framework—too volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous—Daniel Goleman and Korn Ferry suggest a new lens—BANI (Brittle, Anxious, Nonlinear, Incomprehensible). 

For women in midlife leading change, whether in corporate culture, personal growth, or organizational shifts, this reframing is more than semantics—it’s a roadmap for resilience.

What is BANI?

• Brittle: systems that break easily under stress.
• Anxious: consistent tension that erodes trust and focus.
• Non-linear: cause and effect are no longer predictable.
• Incomprehensible: complexity so dense it defies sense.

Why BANI Matters 

Even among seasoned leaders, the experience of BANI can feel destabilizing. The study Korn Ferry cites shows today’s workforce struggles emotionally—anxiety, disengagement, fatigue surface when people feel unmoored. These aren’t individual issues, they are leadership signals. 

https://social-www.forbes.com/sites/johnhall/2025/02/02/3-tactics-for-leading-change-that-can-sustain-long-term-growth/?

Your Change Leadership Toolkit

1. Sharpen Emotional Intelligence - Emotional fluency isn’t optional, it’s the foundation. Name your own fragility, and model resilience in response. Validate emotional experiences. In my coaching, that means listening deeply, reflecting back what’s felt, and normalizing uncertainty.
2. Build Social Safety - Social awareness creates the trust “container” that allows change to unfold without collapse. Anchor meetings in empathy. Encourage a pause before pivoting. Even a 5-minute check-in can serve as a recalibration in fractured environments.
3. Lead with Pragmatic Hope - Cynicism claps back quickly in BANI. Anchor every strategy in clear, achievable next steps. Hope isn’t wishful thinking. It’s rooted in concrete planning, visible progress, and shared intent. Keep communications straightforward, honest, and accountable.

What Women in Midlife Bring to the Table 

You’ve lived the bridge between worlds, personal transitions, career reinventions, caretaking, loss, and discovery. These lived experiences are not liabilities—they are your leadership currency. You understand complexity by lived experience. You can invite vulnerability and strength in the same breath. 

You know how to weather uncertainty because you already have.

How to Anchor BANI Leadership in Your Life

• Desire clarity in your roles at work, home, and self.
• Name the emotional landscape (“I feel frustrated today” is a powerful start).
• Practice pause. Build rituals that ground you.
• Connect with your community, share resources, reflect and create personal connections.

Leading through BANI isn’t about being fearless—it’s about being grounded. As women in midlife, we aren’t defying chaos, we are reshaping it. By leaning into emotional intelligence, social safety, and pragmatic hope, we step from reactive to generative. This is the kind of leadership the world needs, and the midlife moment uniquely equips us to give it.

When I coach you through transition periods, career shifts, personal pivots, and organizational restructuring, the goal isn’t to eliminate discomfort. It’s to offer a container for it: a space where thoughts, fears, hopes, and intentions live side by side. That’s how we step into agency, not just in our teams—but in our lives. 

Because in midlife and mid-career, it’s not about bouncing back—it’s about leaning in, standing tall, and choosing to grow amid unpredictability. Let’s lead differently.