In assessing support for a program or change, it is useful to think of followers in one of five categories (as adapted from Jeswald W. Salacuse):

1. Champions are enthusiastic and fully committed to your plan. They are emotionally invested in its success. You can count on them during implementation.
2. Allies offer qualified and conditional support for your plan. Though they may dislike some features of your plan, they feel that overall it’s good enough to support and move forward with. Talking with them about their reservations may improve your plan or at times convert them into Champions.
3. Passives won’t oppose your plan but at the same time feel no genuine commitment to it. During implementation, they’ll work to achieve its aims if it’s in their self-interest and there’s little risk attached to doing so. They may turn into Opponents or Spoilers if your plan runs into difficulties during implementation.
4. Opponents are openly against your plan. Their support during implementation may be problematical: they will only do what they are compelled to do and they may not do it well or on time.
5. Spoilers may not openly oppose your plan, but they won’t miss an opportunity to weaken or destroy it. They often act as roadblocks and choke points during implementation of a plan. They are potentially more damaging than Opponents.

Leaders with emotional and social intelligence know that agreement to a plan isn’t the same thing as an enthusiastic commitment to it. Followers who express their reservations about a plan – typically Allies and Opponents – are actually easier to work with than those who keep their true feelings hidden. With followers in general – and Passives and Spoilers in particular – it is important to look at their non-verbal communication when assessing their support for a plan. Often body language or the absence of action or speech reveals their true feelings.

Politicians’ finger pointing aside, there are no simple answers and no single culprits. Though some see society as crumbling, we believe it is entering a period of accelerating change and disequilibrium with many factors contributing. New technologies have not only ushered in the emergence of a truly global economy, but have also intensified volatility in financial markets. The “Arab Spring” has shown that new technologies like social media are disruptive in all senses of the word.

So how is a person supposed to cope with these wild swings? (At this point I think we’ve all figured out that tranquilizers and seatbelts aren’t going to be enough.) People are worried and perplexed. Relatively minor news items cause massive rallies and sell-offs in the markets. Many investors and executives are waiting on the sidelines, holding huge amounts of cash and gold, waiting for balance and predictability to return.

This is the time for leaders in business and politics to step up. Even in “normal” times, one of their most important jobs is to create a compelling narrative that explains what’s happening and describes where we’re going and how best to get there. It’s critical that this message not only makes sense but also resonates with people emotionally. Amid the blaming and angst, there’s precious little of this going on.

A new narrative is desperately needed to restore balance and calm. From this narrative, new economic and political paradigms can emerge. Einstein said: “We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.” New thinking is required for this new narrative. Anyone for new thinking? Anyone for New Actions?