Imagine an elected leader denounced as illegitimate after an election many claimed was rigged. A leader accused of bending institutions to protect himself and linked – through sworn testimony and court filings – to unsavoury figures and serious allegations of abuse. When supporters stormed the seat of government in his name, the shock travelled far beyond his borders. Now imagine a foreign power deciding the only solution was to seize him and remove him by force. It sounds like Venezuela. It isn’t.

It is a mirror held up to the United States – and to its president, Donald Trump.

It raises uncomfortable questions: who gets to define democracy, and when? Who decides what is lawful, and what is legitimate? These are not questions of ideology; they are questions of precedent, and history rarely forgives a country that answers them poorly.

While millions of Venezuelans, at home and abroad celebrate the American removal of Nicolás Maduro – by most measures an authoritarian ruler – his forcible extraction by the world’s most powerful military, at Trump’s behest, will do little to stabilise an already brittle geopolitical landscape. Instead, it signals that power, not principle, remains the ultimate arbiter of right and wrong. The danger lies less in Venezuela than in precedent: a demonstration that the rules of governance can bend for the powerful, and bend without consequence.

Only months ago, Trump’s rhetoric about annexing Greenland – citing Danish neglect – and absorbing Canada as a “51st state” was dismissed as bluster or distraction from pressing domestic issues: ballooning national debt, a squeezed middle class, stagnant wages, and a rapidly rising cost of living. That assumption now seems dangerously complacent. Actions like these would embolden not only Trump, but others with imperial ambitions: Russia, entrenched in Ukraine, and China, asserting claims over Taiwan, the home of the world’s most critical semiconductor industries.

This is a moment when restraint, not bravado, is most needed.

The bad news is that much of this is out of your control. The good news is that how you respond is entirely up to you.

In times of heightened uncertainty, it helps to pause, breathe, and focus on what remains constant in an ever-changing world. It is easy to be overwhelmed by rapid developments in technology, markets, and news cycles, but the patterns of human behaviour – fear, greed, ambition, risk aversion, and resilience remain remarkably stable. What is predictable is not events, but how people respond to them.

At the heart of my work is helping leadership teams navigate these moments of uncertainty, challenging them to see the world as everyone else does and then daring to think differently. In volatile environments, everyone has access to the same news, the same headlines, the same fears. What separates those who succeed from those who struggle is the ability to think independently, to act decisively, and to find opportunity where others see only risk.

During the 2008–2009 Global Financial Crisis, Brian Joffe, founder of the global services group Bidvest, posted a simple slogan across all company facilities worldwide: “Bidvest does not participate in the recession.” Of course, the company was affected by the crisis. But Joffe’s mindset was solutions-oriented, geared for growth rather than constrained by fear. He was looking for opportunity while others retreated, and that mindset defined his company’s resilience and eventual success.

The lesson is clear: in turbulent times, what matters most is not trying to predict the unpredictable, but preparing to respond effectively. Leaders who focus on principles, who understand enduring patterns of human behaviour, and who cultivate flexibility are the ones who thrive. They can maintain clarity amid chaos, make better decisions, and guide their teams with confidence when others panic.

If you or your teams are ready to rethink, recalibrate, and reimagine your future – if you want to navigate uncertainty without being paralysed by it – let’s talk. Set up a call at pippa@brucewhitfield.com

Together, we can find the strategies, perspectives, and courage to turn disruption into opportunity.

Because in a world where headlines are relentless, where power can bend rules, and where global tension seems ever-present, the one thing you can control is how you respond. And that makes all the difference