Leadership Under Pressure: 5 Keys to High Performance When the Pressure is on

An everyday challenge for most leaders is their ability to perform when the pressure is on. Ancient philosopher, Seneca the Elder, once wrote, “Let us be brave in the face of adversity.” Obviously ‘adversity’ is the key word Seneca chose to emphasize, given most of us perform better when we are not under pressure. For good reason, we’ve come to admire those that are somehow able to turn down the noise and maintain focus through adversity to perform well. We celebrate the basketball player that hits both free throws with no time left to win the game or the innocent bystander that suddenly turns hero to stop a violent crime in progress.

People that demonstrate an uncanny ability to overcome this pressure consistently, and still achieve great results, well, those people tend to be our heroes. From the sports fields to the boardrooms to the battlefields, we are fascinated by those that are cool under fire. In business, consistently good judgement under pressure is usually a characteristic of great leaders. Those leaders are somehow able to parse through complex scenarios quickly, and without too much emotion, settle on a clear course of action to overcome the challenges their organizations are facing. While their solutions are not always enough to save the day, they are often admired for their grace under pressure, their commitment to their core values, and their courage to move forward where others were paralyzed or fleeing altogether.

“Always do everything you ask of those you command.” - General George Patton

This courage under fire often instills a comfort and loyalty in fellow employees, many of whom subconsciously gravitate toward the extra comfort of having such a high performer leading the team. Who doesn’t want to be teammates with Michael Jordan or Bill Gates or Peyton Manning or Mia Hamm? I once coined this phenomenon dynamic as ‘the William Wallace effect,’ inspired by the 1995 action movie Braveheart, which tells the inspiring story of William Wallace, the Scottish rebel who rallied his fellow countrymen against England, a far more powerful adversary – but one that cruelly ruled over the Scottish people until Wallace could stand it no more. The men that followed Wallace into battle against the far more formidable English army resonated to his unwavering commitment to his fundamental objective, in this case, the idea of freedom for his fellow countrymen; but they were inspired by his willingness to boldly put himself in harm’s way whenever there was danger, demonstrating endless courage and commitment to his cause no matter how dire the odds – that inspires. We all know there is a difference between a leader that puts himself at the front lines, and one that waits at the rear of the battle. It was General George Patton who said during World War II, “Always do everything you ask of those you command,” and leaders should always remember this.

What can leaders do to ensure they are performing at a high-level under pressure?

Here are 5 helpful strategies leaders might incorporate to improve performance under pressure:

1. Always Maintain Your Integrity and Core Values – As a leader, it’s important to remember that your integrity and core values very likely played a meaningful role in your hire or ascension in your organization. While pressure, uncertainty, avoiding conflict, and even advancement can serve to tempt a good leader to look for the easy way out at the expense of their core values, a leader must do all they can to hold these values sacred – even when they conflict with directives from those above the leader in the organizational hierarchy. In most instances, a leader that respectfully voice’s opposition to the directive, is rarely dismissed; and when properly voiced (with respect and diplomacy), their dissent often serves to bolster their standing in the organization. If it results in a departure, you still leave with your core values and integrity, arguably your greatest assets to any future employer.

2. Pursue Feedback Before Challenges to Optimize Decision-Making in Times of Crisis – while getting regular feedback may seem glaringly obvious to most of us, it’s still important to ensure the feedback we are getting, is honest and timely. When feedback is timely, it has an opportunity to save us from an impulsive decision or allow us to make a more informed decision. To make sure we are getting honest and timely feedback, it’s important for leaders to establish an environment of psychological safety. Psychological safety is basically the ability for two or more people to interact in a completely genuine way, without fear of the other’s personal acceptance or concerns over respect. Psychological safety establishes a level of comfort that leads to more direct conversations between people or the team, and in turn results in higher quality feedback and idea exchanges. Creating psychological safety is most important for new leaders who do not have a track record given employees tend to have a natural inclination to be guarded with those in positions of authority. Additionally, employees may have had a past experience with a previous leader that makes them reticent to provide ideas or feedback that may be helpful to the organization, and good leadership should strive to change this dynamic. Establishing psychological safety can take time in an organization, so in the early going it is particularly important to demonstrate to those around you that you value their honest feedback and ask questions on various issues to gauge their positions. While it is not necessary to agree with everyone’s position that you may solicit, it is important to always respect their views, and when appropriate, to share why you may elect to proceed differently if that’s the case – and hopefully this generates productive discussion wherein both viewpoints can be further refined. The primary goal in creating psychological safety is to establish more real time feedback from key stakeholders (facing the issue), which ultimate improves the outcomes for the organization and drives more collective purpose through the organization.

3. Beware of Cognitive Distortions – We all suffer from what psychologist call cognitive distortions, effectively false beliefs that our minds generate as we think or make decisions. Two of the most common cognitive distortions I saw as a business leader included catastrophizing (e.g., “If I can’t get this right, we probably won’t keep the account, which will surely sink my year, and my other clients will probably leave me.”), and negative filtering, the distortion that has us focus exclusively on the negative while ignoring any positives. It can obviously be challenging for people to overcome cognitive distortions but a good way to start is to be more aware of them, which leads to recognizing them as they occur and ensure we don’t fall for them or let them drive our decision-making process. Recognizing our distortions actually gives us the opportunity to see them as untruths they are, and even laugh at them. The more awareness we generate in this regard, the better we become at making rational decisions under pressure.

4. Take Breaks and Recharge – One common misconception in Western culture is the idea that work ethic somehow correlates to the number of hours you work. We have become a culture of ‘I’ll outwork you!’, often driven by adages offered by a well-meaning grandparents, relatives or coaches. The fact of the matter is that studies consistently show we perform better when we take breaks. Most of us have some sense of this intuitively, given that one time when we put the work down to relax for a bit, only to come back to the problem we were working on and finding it was much easier to solve. If we concede that we all perform better when we can reduce stress and increase concentration and focus, then breaks, vacations and even side conversations with colleagues on the ballgame or the latest hit TV series can serve to improve productivity and decision making. These improvements undoubtedly carry into high pressure situations. Before making any key critical decision that is not time sensitive, it may be a good practice to sleep on it and see how we feel about it when we pick it back up the next day.

5. Learn From Your Mistakes – There is a great deal of psychology that focuses on staying in the moment, and certainly mindfulness is something that benefits all of us – but part of improving performance going forward requires taking a hard look at what has transpired in the past.

When we analyze the past, we should do so as objectively as possible and answer these questions:

1. What part of the decision/action was least effective and why?

2. What part of my decision/action was most effective and why?

3. What do I know now that I didn’t know in the moment and was there an opportunity for me to have the information before the decision/action? If so, make sure to visit with anyone that failed to share (or that you failed to ask) that information, and build psychological safety accordingly.

4. Did any cognitive distortions drive some or all of my decision/actions?

5. Did I stay true to myself – my core values and beliefs?