When the Storm Hits: Lead Like the Buffalo
By Stephanie Benze, Director of Education at AC Inc.
🔍 In This Article You’ll Learn How To:
- Recognize chaos as a leadership moment, not a failure
- Slow reactive situations without losing momentum
- Coach franchisees through uncertainty using structure, not urgency
- Turn setbacks into launch points for renewed growth
- Lead with calm, clarity, and confidence when the pressure is on
Chaos Has a Way of Finding Us All
I remember a moment about ten years ago when I hit a full-blown chaos point in my leadership and operations career. If you know me, you know I’m wired for forward motion. I want to see progress. I want action. I want the next big step, personally, professionally, and financially.
So slowing down? Not my thing.
Stepping back? Definitely not my thing.
But there I was, on a quick bus ride to a PGA course, a big networking event I was lucky enough to attend with my old company. I was sitting next to someone who, if I’m honest, usually got on my nerves. I never felt seen or heard by him. He wasn’t the person I expected to drop wisdom on me.
But that day?
He did.
He said something I didn’t want to hear, especially not from him. But it was 100% spot on, and it still echoes in my mind today (and in the minds of so many franchise owners):
“Sometimes you have to stop and take a step back, maybe two, so you can weather the storm… and launch forward faster and further than you ever could if you let the uncertainty lead.”
I didn’t like it.
But I needed it.
Within two weeks, I left an organization I had spent a decade building. I took massive steps back in title and perceived status. I paused the climb. I chose calm over chaos and clarity over crisis.
That pause didn’t stall my growth.
It set me up to move forward on my terms — aligned with my values, my goals, and the way I believe leadership should actually work.
And no, it hasn’t been smooth sailing ever since. This year alone felt like a roller coaster trying to throw me right off the tracks.
But now, when I see a storm coming, I don’t panic. I don’t flap my wings and squawk like Chicken Little.
I step back.
I breathe.
I ground myself.
And then I move — intentionally, steadily, and with clarity.
I move like the buffalo.
Buffalo don’t run from storms. They run through them. And because of that, they reach calm skies faster — and stronger.
So when chaos hits, the real question becomes:
Will you let the storm lead you… or will you lead through it?
What Chaos Teaches Us About Coaching
That moment changed the way I think about leadership. And it mirrors exactly what franchisees experience when chaos shows up in their businesses.
Chaos doesn’t usually look dramatic at first. It looks like:
- A scramble to “fix it now”
- Overwhelm
- Emotional decision-making
- Everything feeling urgent
And here’s where coaching matters most.
Because chaos doesn’t need more urgency.
It needs grounding.
One of the biggest mistakes coaches make in chaotic moments is reacting instead of responding — jumping straight into fixing instead of slowing the situation down.
That’s why one of the most powerful coaching skills we teach is deceptively simple:
Pause → Probe → Plan
Pause to regulate the emotion.
Probe to understand what’s actually happening beneath the surface.
Plan with the franchisee — not for them — so ownership comes back into the conversation.
When everything feels like it’s on fire, slowing down isn’t weakness.
It’s leadership.
Sometimes the Power Move Is Stepping Back
One of the hardest truths for high performers to accept — whether they’re franchisees or field coaches — is that growth doesn’t always feel like growth.
Sometimes it looks like:
- Rebuilding confidence
- Revisiting foundations
- Cleaning up systems
- Re-establishing expectations
We’re conditioned to believe that stepping back means falling behind. But in reality, stepping back is often the launch pad.
That bus-ride advice didn’t just help me survive a storm — it helped me launch forward faster than if I’d kept grinding in uncertainty.
The same is true for franchisees.
When chaos hits, the goal isn’t speed.
It’s stability.
And stability creates momentum.
Chaos Reveals What Growth Has Been Hiding
Here’s the uncomfortable truth: chaos doesn’t break systems — it exposes them.
It reveals:
- Gaps in leadership
- Gaps in communication
- Gaps in expectations
- Gaps in process
This is where great coaches separate themselves from reactive ones.
Reactive coaching amplifies panic.
Strategic coaching creates clarity.
Your job as a coach isn’t to join the storm.
It’s to be the steady presence inside it.
Why Strategic Growth Coaching Was Built for These Moments
Strategic Growth Coaching isn’t just a growth framework, it’s a grounding one.
- It gives coaches the tools to bring logic back into emotional situations:
- Consistent cadence so chaos doesn’t derail accountability
- Vision resets that reconnect franchisees to why they’re doing this
- Scorecards that anchor conversations in reality, not fear
- NOW Analysis to surface what’s truly blocking progress
SGC doesn’t remove storms from the journey.
It gives leaders a compass when visibility drops.
Rebuild. Refocus. Reignite.
Across every December conversation, one message kept surfacing:
Growth doesn’t require perfection. It requires presence.
When chaos hits:
- Rebuild what cracked under pressure
- Refocus on what actually matters
- Reignite momentum with intention
This is how franchisees regain confidence.
This is how coaches regain impact.
This is how systems become resilient instead of reactive.
The Bottom Line: Be the Buffalo
Chaos is inevitable.
Leadership is optional.
When storms show up, and they will, you can flap, panic, and react… or you can step back, breathe, and lead forward with clarity.
That’s what great coaches do.
That’s what strong systems are built on.
So I’ll ask you the same question I had to ask myself years ago:
When the storm hits… are you ready to be the buffalo, and lead through it?
Ready to Coach Through Chaos With Confidence?
If you want to equip your coaches and leaders with the structure, mindset, and tools to guide franchisees through uncertainty, not just growth cycles, Strategic Growth Coaching was built for exactly this work.
Let’s build coaches who don’t panic.
Let’s build coaches who lead.
→ Explore Strategic Growth Coaching with AC Inc.
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