When Reality Meets Hope

Gary Burnison is CEO of Korn Ferry and the author of I Need a Job!

For the past six years, almost to the day, I have been writing these Special Edition messages. It began at the very start of the pandemic when uncertainty was at our doorstep.

And here we are again.

These times are a reminder for all of us that life, like leadership, is anything but linear.

We can try to imagine what it must feel like to walk in someone else’s shoes, but the truth is that it’s impossible to fully understand.

“Yes, sure—unfortunately can’t tonight. Several missile attacks on Kyiv near my apartment. I am in the bomb shelter. Air sirens still on.”

It was nearly four years ago when I heard those words from Roman Bondar, head of our Ukraine office. His response made my heart stop. Here was a colleague, still eager to have a conversation, even amid the unthinkable.

It really put things in perspective quickly.

And so, I reached out to Roman once again, just this past week.

His spirit, similar. His conviction, even more pronounced. And the urgency of his voice, emphatic. But amid his intensity, there was something even more powerful: genuine, unguarded compassion.

Beyond solace, there was soul-searching.

“Four years ago, I had thought hope would help me be stronger. But now I see there can be a mental burnout of unrealized hope,” Roman told me. “I ask myself, if I knew then what I know now, what would my advice be? It’s to embrace the maturity of my awareness in the present. That’s the real treasure. Don’t be captured by your fear. Instead, channel the power of negative emotions to give you energy—so you can focus on others.”

Awareness, acceptance, and meaning in the moment—that’s the real impact. And that’s where reality meets hope.

Ironically, though, it takes a healthy dose of pessimism to keep us grounded. It’s the voice that quietly reminds us—and also guides us. There’s realism on one side, reassurance on the other—and reward and risk in between.

In an environment like this, leadership calls for a balancing act. As our firm has found, based on assessments of millions of executives, 90% of the problems we face are ambiguous. And the more we’re immersed in uncertainty, the bigger the premium on agility and dexterity.

Here are some thoughts:

Anticipate what lies ahead. Having Plan C for Plan B for our Plan A. To predict tomorrow you have to accurately perceive the reality of today.

Navigate course-correcting in real time. Navigation is the companion to anticipation. Together, they can keep us on an even keel. But remember, avoiding avoidance is a decision—and probably not a good one.   

Communicate continually. As leaders, we’re both the message and the messenger. When there is trust in what we say, there is belief in what we do. And when we don’t know—we say so. Authenticity rules.

Listen to what we don’t want to hear.

Far beyond any single moment, leadership raises a clarion call in every moment.

This sentiment is echoed in a message shared with us by another colleague just the other day—a quote from the poet William Wordsworth.

“Life is divided into three terms—that which was, which is, and which will be. Let us learn from the past to profit by the present, and from the present, to live better in the future.”

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