When high stakes are no longer occasional but constant, your response to pressure defines your leadership. High-Stakes Leadership Mentor, Sally Henderson, has three practical ways to turn high stakes into fuel for high performance and not overwhelm.

What if HOW you react under pressure is costing you?

Ever paused to notice what happens in your body when you read the words "high stakes?"

Do you feel a pull of energy, that positive rush before something important? Or does something tighten and you feel cortisol? Your answer tells you something useful about how you lead under pressure and your relationship with high stakes.

 High stakes used to be reserved for rare moments - the new job, the unexpected crisis, the pivotal board decision. You prepared, navigated, recovered, and things settled. This version of high stakes no longer exists.

Why? Because the stakes are always high now, change is the only constant, and there's always something that matters that can be lost at a moment's notice.

 High performance leadership isn't about how you perform in occasional high stakes moments anymore. It's about how you lead when high stakes simply is the environment.

 In this month’s article, I’m going to share three practical ways you can develop a healthier relationship with high stakes. A relationship that fuels you instead of constant overwhelm or that roller coaster ride that you’re no longer enjoying

Step 1: Name your default

Finish this sentence: "To me, high stakes means..."

Don't overthink it. Whatever you wrote reveals your default lens, the filter you automatically lead through when pressure rises. When the stakes are high some leaders see action needed and want to move fast, some see risk to manage and want to steady, some feel the impact on people first, some see a chance to stretch and grow.

None of these reactions are wrong, but your subconscious default belief around high stakes is running every time the stakes rise, shaping what you notice, what you prioritise, what you miss entirely and how you think, feel and act as a leader.

> The question to sit with: Does your default lens fuel you or drain you when stakes are high?

 Step 2: Find the cost

Every default lens to high stakes carries a shadow side, and it usually shows up when things don't turn out as planned.

·       Action: you bring momentum but may move before you've fully understood the picture.

·       Risk: you protect what matters but may hold back too long and miss the moment.

·       People: you build loyalty but may duck the difficult calls that would actually serve them better.

·       Growth: you stretch and learn but may overlook the cost to yourself or those around you. 

The question to sit with: Think of a recent high stakes moment that didn't go as well as you wanted. What did your default make you focus on and what did you miss as a result?

Step 3: The art of the pause

The senior leaders I work with who genuinely thrive when high stakes doesn't let up have learned to catch themselves before they react.

When you feel your default kicking in, pause. Just long enough to ask: is this what this moment actually needs from me, or is this just what I always do?

You don't have to abandon your instincts, they're yours for good reason. But seeing an alternative puts you back in the driving seat instead of being driven by your subconscious.

The question to sit with: What's one high stakes situation on your horizon where you could try the opposite of your usual response, just to see what shifts?