There is no shortage of reasons to believe we are living through tough times.
Economic uncertainty, cost pressures, geopolitical instability, AI reshaping work and a relentless stream of bad news compete for our attention every day.
The challenges are real. But Chris Helder believes leaders need to ask another question: what happens when “tough times” becomes the story we tell ourselves?
Chris has spent more than 25 years studying human behaviour, communication and influence. In our conversation on Future Fit Leadership, he challenged one of the most persistent ideas in personal development: that we simply need to think positively.
Sometimes, he argues, positive thinking isn't useful.
If business is difficult, pretending it isn't won't change anything. And when circumstances are genuinely outside our control, positivity can become another way of avoiding reality.
Chris offers a much more practical starting point:
Look at your reality and ask: can I change it?
If you can, change it.
Make the decision. Have the conversation. Change the behaviour. Take responsibility for what is within your control.
But if you genuinely cannot change the situation, ask:
What is the most useful belief I can have about it?
That distinction matters because leaders can spend enormous amounts of energy fighting circumstances they cannot control.
The economy. Government policy. Technology. Competitors. Other people's behaviour.
Useful Belief isn't passive acceptance. It is about seeing reality clearly, directing your energy towards what you can influence and choosing a way of thinking that allows you to move forward.
Your brain is always looking for evidence
Chris also talks about the way our brains filter information.
If we continually tell ourselves everything is terrible, we start noticing more evidence to confirm it.
And today we have the perfect mechanism for feeding that belief: the phone in our hand.
News alerts. Social media. Another crisis. Another prediction about jobs disappearing. Another reason to worry.
Chris argues that the best leaders and entrepreneurs don't inhabit a different world. They become better at seeing opportunities within the same world.
So what are you putting into your brain every day, and what is it training you to notice?
Resilience needs an update
One of the most personal parts of our conversation was Chris's changing view of resilience.
His old definition was familiar: toughen up, keep going, push through.
Then one of his sons challenged him.
Chris began to recognise that resilience isn't about denying difficult emotions. Sometimes people first need acknowledgement that what they are experiencing is genuinely hard.
He recalled his wife, Amanda Stevens, saying something incredibly simple during a difficult period:
“It's been a lot.”
At 54, Chris said it was the first time he could remember someone validating what he was carrying in quite that way.
But validation isn't where resilience ends.
The next question is: what do we do now?
For leaders, there is an important balance here. We can acknowledge that people are carrying a lot while still helping them reconnect with purpose, possibility and their next step.
Sometimes you need a new ladder
During COVID, Chris's speaking business had effectively disappeared when his son told him:
“You're climbing the same ladder. You need a new ladder.”
It is a powerful metaphor for leadership and reinvention.
We can become so focused on climbing that we forget to ask whether the ladder is still taking us somewhere we want to go.
For Chris, the new ladder became helping people and designing his life more intentionally across work, family, friendships, health, community and time for himself.
And perhaps that is the bigger lesson from Useful Belief.
Leadership isn't about convincing ourselves everything will work out exactly as planned.
It is about seeing reality clearly.
Change what you can. Accept what you cannot. Be intentional about what shapes your thinking. And when the ladder you are climbing no longer makes sense, have the courage to find another one.
In uncertain times, perhaps one of the most useful questions a leader can ask each morning is:
What is the most useful action I can take today?
Listen to podcast here: Future Fit Leadership - Chris Helder