Switches and Dials
A Framework for Leading with Trust at the Speed of Change
A Lesson from the Garage
I learned calibration in garages, not classrooms. My dad was a mechanic—the real kind. Weekends were car shows; weeknights meant seeing his grease-stained legs sticking out from under a hot rod, the air heavy with the scent of gasoline. I think it was only in my teens that I realized belts and rings were more than just car parts.
As a teenager, I worked in a pit crew because my first boyfriend raced Sprint Cars in the Pacific Northwest. My great-grandfather even helped build one of the local dirt tracks. In that world, I discovered how one sloppy wrench turn can ruin a night. You quickly learn what must always be on—fuel, brakes, and bolts—and what you adjust for the track—air, timing, and tire pressure.
Years later, in politics—campaign war rooms, council chambers, and crisis calls—that same lesson returned. Like race cars, politics moves fast and rarely gives you the luxury of slowing down. Leadership isn’t just about character or charisma. It’s about steady calibration under speed.
The Zoning Fight
This lesson really hit me during a bruising zoning fight, right after the election of a politician I worked for and deeply respected. The very people who had helped put him in office—supporters eager to see more affordable housing—pushed hard to change zoning. They treated his victory as a guarantee that their plan would be a slam dunk. It was their mandate; they had just elected him.
But, this leader said no. Not because he was against the housing plan, but because he knew that he represented everyone. He asked the questions nobody wanted to ask: What would happen to renters along the transit line? Could the schools, sewers, and roads carry the extra load? Where might flooding or emergency access turn into real risks? And what precedent would this set for the future?
The temperature spiked. Supporters were furious. But instead of giving in, he calmed the room, laid out the trade-offs, and set a timeline to revisit zoning decisions once protections were in place.
A few weeks later, the story had completely shifted—from one of “betrayal” to one of “responsible decisions.” The alliance around him didn’t collapse; it matured. That night, nearly 30 years ago, the switches-and-dials framework first crystallized in my mind as a way to help leaders steer hard choices under pressure.
Why a New Framework
Most leadership approaches were built for slower, simpler times. Today, especially in politics, decisions happen under constant spotlight—with incomplete information, and with incentives that often reward outrage over solutions.
As Baroness Martha Lane Fox puts it:
“Today is the slowest day of the rest of your life.”
No wonder leaders—and citizens—feel overwhelmed. Neuroscience reveals why: Uncertainty triggers the brain’s threat response systems, which bias attention toward immediate risks and reduce cognitive flexibility, making sound judgment more difficult. The demand for speed worsens this by reducing cognitive exploration and biasing choices toward the familiar. Stress raises cortisol, which weakens the prefrontal cortex and pushes decisions toward emotion and habit, reducing attention, risk judgment, and memory. In short, the very conditions leaders face most—speed, complexity, crisis, incomplete data—make our brains default to survival mode. Fight, flight or freeze.
This is why we need a new way to lead. A way that anchors leaders in what cannot change, while keeping them flexible where they must.
The Framework:
Two switches
Integrity: Tell the truth. Don’t mislead. Don’t dehumanize.
Accountability: Own outcomes. Admit errors quickly. Repair in public.
I am sure there are more, but these two switches are integral. They are always ON (non-negotiable).
If either switch flips off, nothing else matters—not polling, profits, or press.
The Dials – context-dependent
Think of dials as the adjustable parts of leadership—the traits, skills, or behaviors you don’t keep fixed, but tune depending on the situation. Unlike the two switches (integrity and accountability) that must always stay on, dials are flexible. Too far up or down, they can become liabilities. Tuned with care, they become your edge.
The Dials in Practice
The dials only make sense when you see them in action. The examples below are simple, illustrative scenarios that show what it means to ‘dial up’ or ‘dial down’ in politics and leadership. Real decisions are more complex and context-dependent – they need to be tuned with fresh data, diverse perspectives, and credible expertise. But these scenarios give a feel for how the framework works in practice.
Transparency comes under fire when a policy rollout backfires. Dial it up by publishing what went wrong, what will change, and how progress will be tracked. Dial it down—though never off—during sensitive talks like a peace deal: share broad principles but hold back details until it’s safe.
Inclusion looks different depending on context. In drafting housing or zoning policy, you dial it up by co-designing with renters, homeowners, schools, and transport authorities. In emergencies like a flood response, you dial it down to act fast, then open things back up later for review.
Decision speed is about knowing when to move. In a cyberattack on city systems, dial it up—shut servers, go public, contain the damage. For irreversible steps, like signing long-term contracts, dial it down and pause for deeper review.
Tone shifts after violent protests. Dial it up toward empathy and calm reassurance. Dial it down toward firmness when enforcing non-negotiable rules.
Empathy matters in moments like budget cuts. Dial it up by acknowledging the human cost to families and frontline workers. Dial it down by avoiding over-identification with one group at the expense of fairness across all.
Vision altitude is about how far out you look. In climate debates, dial it up to emphasize generational stakes. Dial it down by grounding the conversation in concrete steps—retrofits, subsidies—that make the plan feel doable.
Risk appetite shows in choices like piloting universal basic income. Dial it up when public demand for innovation is high. Dial it down when lives are at stake, as in safety or security policy.
Delegation is situational. In a national vaccination rollout, dial it up by empowering local leaders to adapt to realities. In a pandemic surge, dial it down by centralizing supply decisions.
Public engagement is another balancing act. In police reform, dial it up with citizen assemblies and open forums. In confidential personnel investigations, dial it down to protect integrity of the process.
Pace of change matters in education reform. Dial it up when momentum or funding creates a window of opportunity. Dial it down to give teachers, parents, and unions time to adapt and avoid backlash.
Building the Leadership Habit
Behavioral science and neuroscience are clear: behavior drives belief.
That’s why leadership doesn’t change overnight through intention or inspiration, but through habits: small, repeated actions under pressure that slowly rewire belief, identity, and culture.
The art of leadership is learning to tune those dials deliberately at first, then instinctively with time. What leaders do again and again under stress doesn’t just solve the immediate problem — it shapes what they believe about themselves, and what others believe about them.
Initially, this means noticing: Am I dialing transparency up enough here? Should I slow the pace to protect stability? Do I need to lower my tone to de-escalate? Over time, repetition turns these into reflexes. Just like a mechanic who no longer thinks about which wrench to grab, or a musician who doesn’t think about every note, leaders who practice switches and dials long enough can adjust fluidly under pressure.
This is the leadership habit: integrity and accountability locked ON, and dials tuned with enough practice that they become both conscious choices and unconscious strengths. In a world that demands speed, this feedback loop of behavior shaping belief is what allows leaders to stay steady, adaptable, and trusted.
Final Word (imperfect on purpose)
This framework has been tested and refined over the years—in politics, coaching, and rooms where the pressure is real.
I don’t have all the answers. I’m a learning CEO and entrepreneur who strives for a growth mindset and aims to be “anti-fragile”—not just bouncing back from stress, but improving because of it. I get it wrong. I keep practicing.
Try it. Stress-test it. Poke holes in it.
Practical Take-Away: If we keep the switches of integrity and accountability always ON—and tune the rest with care—we can lead quickly without losing trust, and leave systems stronger than we found them.
Watch this space—I’ll be publishing a deeper guide on this soon.
Dialed and switched on,
Lisa