I was on a call recently with a mid-level manager named Priya. She sighed and told me, “Dr. Mottley, I’m just waiting to see how things shake out at my company. They are trying to automate everything! And, there are rumors of layoffs, AI is slowly but surely creeping into my department, but I don’t want to make any drastic moves yet. I’ll just wait and see.”

I’ve heard this same line dozens of times over the last year. Maybe you’ve said it yourself. And at first, it sounds reasonable. After all, professionals are trained to analyze, observe, and avoid rash decisions. But let me be blunt: in today’s turbulent climate, a “wait and see” posture is one of the riskiest positions you can take.

The Disaster Is Already Here

Look around. Jobs are being eliminated not in years, but in months (sometimes weeks – and even days). Artificial intelligence is automating tasks that once required entire teams. Economic uncertainty and political instability are shaking industries that once felt solid. One week it’s tech companies cutting thousands. The next week, banks or government agencies are reorganizing, downsizing or just downright shedding employees, leaving careers in limbo.

The earthquakes is not just a projection and the storm is not on the horizon! They are already at your office door. By the time you “see” clearly, it’s often too late.

Why Waiting Is Dangerous

1. Lost Time – Every day you wait, you miss opportunities to prepare, retrain, or reposition yourself. Time compounds – what you don’t do today becomes the regret of tomorrow.

2. Decreased Options – When change comes suddenly, your choices shrink. The professionals who prepared early will scoop up the best roles, while those who hesitated scramble for what’s left… if anything.

3. Eroded Confidence – A passive posture slowly chips away at your belief in your own agency… and even worse – in yourself. You go from being the captain of your career to a passenger being tossed around by both the waves created by both the storms and earthquakes!

4. Compounded Stress – Anxiety festers in uncertainty. Ironically, waiting doesn’t reduce stress. It multiplies it. Action, even small steps, is what relieves pressure.

The Illusion of Safety

Many professionals tell themselves, “I’ll be safe because I’ve been loyal, I perform well, or my role is unique, or I have a specialized skillset!” But loyalty doesn’t shield you from automation. Performance doesn’t protect you from budget cuts. And “unique” skills can become obsolete overnight when new technologies emerge... or when a machine can do it better, faster, cheaper and without downtime for sick-leave and vacations.

The world of work is shifting at a speed no one alive has seen before – or even imagined possible. The only true safety is in your preparation, adaptability, and proactive steps.

From Waiting to Acting

So what should you do instead of waiting? Here are a few moves that put you back in control:

• Audit Your Skills: Identify where technology or outsourcing could replace tasks you handle. Then look at where your human-centered skills – emotional intelligence, communication, persuasion, leadership – can’t be automated. Invest in those areas.

• Build a Cushion: Career cushioning isn’t just a buzzword. It’s smart strategy. Start cultivating side projects, freelance work, or networks that could provide options if your main role shifts.

• Expand Your Network: Don’t wait until you need a job to connect with people. Strengthen relationships now. Opportunity flows through people you know and trust.

• Adopt a Change-Proof Mindset: See change not as a threat but as the one constant you can rely on. Those who train themselves to pivot quickly will thrive, no matter what storm comes. That’s why I wrote a book with that title that’s available of Amazon (Change-Proof Your Career).

A Call to Courage

The truth is, “wait and see” feels safer because it delays uncomfortable decisions. But courage isn’t built in comfort. It’s built when you decide to act, even while uncertainty swirls around you.

Priya eventually realized this. She began updating her skills, talking to mentors, and exploring new career paths. Within months, she wasn’t paralyzed by fear anymore – she was energized by possibilities.

You face the same choice. Will you keep waiting while the tide rises around you and the walls shatter before you? Or will you step forward, take control, and prepare yourself for whatever comes next?

Because in today’s world, waiting is the real risk. Acting is the only safety.

If you’re ready to move beyond “wait and see” and start equipping yourself with the skills, strategies, and community that can future-proof your career, I invite you to explore the Professional Mastery Program & Training Vault. Inside, you’ll find courses on stress management, emotional intelligence, persuasion, communication skills, and much more –plus a community of professionals who refuse to sit still while the world changes around them. Plus, you get monthly trainings and updates on what successful professionals are doing and how they are responding to the next set of emerging dangers… And, if you want… you can get personalized executive coaching…

Take a look here: Professional Mastery Program & Training Vault