In an environment of change, a leader is responsible for regulating the distress that team members are feeling; this entails ensuring that the team members remain motivated and in control of their workloads. Effective leaders are masters of sequencing and pacing work. They know how to prioritize and order tasks to minimize confusion and chaos. Successful leaders do not strive to eliminate all of their team's stressors, but instead help team members manage them.

You can establish a holding environment that fosters motivation by:

• Treating everyone, at every level of the organization, with the same respect
• Giving everyone's ideas serious consideration
• Being fair, kind, and courteous at all times
• Being honest, admitting when you make a mistake or when you don't have an answer
• Never putting other people down
• Protecting your unit or group by defining a boundary around your people and sheltering them from interference, going to bat for your team to get the resources you need, and showing courage in sticking up for your people
• Not tolerating scapegoating or misapplied blame
• Using every reasonable opportunity to foster others' professional growth