At one point in my consulting career, I honestly believed I was “managing stress” by getting on the stair-stepper — with my laptop open — frantically answering client emails and editing PowerPoint decks.
I thought I was productive. I fooled myself into thinking I was powerful.
But I was actually making things worse.
Like many of my colleagues, I thought self-care was something you squeezed in while working.
I saw teammates skip meals. Cancel doctor appointments. Delay family time. All because a slide deck needed “just one more round of polishing.”
Pardon me, but — this isn’t resilience.
This is a team and organizational culture that’s set up to burn people out.
These days, I get frustrated when a company’s response to burnout is “we’ve got amazing wellness perks.” Those alone do not work.
The problem isn’t that individuals aren’t “taking care of themselves.” The real issue is how the team is set up to operate under challenging pressures — like ambitious deadlines, integrating AI, launching new products and services.
If you want your team to hit ambitious goals without unraveling, you need things like:
👉 Clear roles and mutual accountability
👉 Open, direct communication
👉 Feedback that’s timely and actionable
👉 The capacity to navigate conflict instead of avoiding it
At Powerful Under Pressure, we help leadership teams get this right — because high performance is a team sport, not an individual endurance test.
👉 If your team is still on the proverbial stairclimber or treadmill, trying to look calm while tackling intense challenges, let’s talk.