The Pinch
The game of pressure and how we can navigate it
I always loved the saying from Bill Shankly, the legendary Liverpool Football Club Manager in the 1950's and 60's, "Some people believe football is a matter of life and death. I am very disappointed with that attitude. I can assure you it is much, much more important than that.”
It is the sort of rhetoric us sport fanatics lap up. We buy into the meaning of our tribes and how our world depends wholly on our team beating the other mob. To a certain extent our sport does mean a lot. In Shankly's Liverpool era, the town was full of poor dock workers and merchants where the only shining light in their working week seemed to come from their beloved Reds winning titles across Europe.
But, at the end of the day, as much as we love the pub talk about who should be opening the batting for Australia, or if the latest number one draft pick will help our team to the premiership, it really doesn't matter all that much.
The sporting media will feed the beast with cliches like, "There is no tomorrow", but even for those in the thick of it (managers, coaches, players), there usually is a tomorrow, even if it is a little dimmer if results don't go their way.
There are many tomorrows, for those involved in elite sport as well as the rest of us. Very few of us live and work in a life-or-death environment. And, even if we did, what would help us navigate these high-octane situations to the best of our ability?
The feelings of pressure or being under pressure sums up the state we find ourselves in when everything seems to be on the line in a given moment. It may be the end of reporting period, or the morning of an important meeting. It may even be a normal day at work. There is a sensation of anxiety/heightened awareness/doubt/tightness/dread that strikes even the most confident and accomplished among us.
“Some people think of football is a matter of life and death. I don’t like that attitude. I can assure them it is much more serious than that.”
It can be crippling. But what is it and how can we deal with it?
In one of my favourite sports podcasts they had a discussion about pressure (Chasing Scratch, S6 E22 Staying Present). A psychologist called Dr. Jason Novetsky, affectionately dubbed, Dr. J by the hosts shared his thoughts on the subject.
Dr. J described three main reasons why we feel the sensation of pressure I thought was helpful for all of us:
We feel pressure because it is important to us. We care deeply about the job or task at hand. We care about the result and we want a good or positive outcome. I would say this is a good thing. If you don't care about your work then why are you there? You should care. Caring about your work means you will always feel a sensation of pressure at some point along your journey, if not quite often.
We feel pressure because there is uncertainty. We are in new territory or uncharted waters with an unknown outcome. This may be literal in the sense that you are working with a new client or using new tools or creating a new service/product/design. I see it as inherent as every day is a new one. There are workshops I have run dozens and dozens of times yet I still feel the pinch not knowing who will be in the audience or what questions I will be asked. We all have a version of this in our daily lives.
We feel pressure because we feel we are being judged. This may be true or not, but our perception is that others are watching and in someway grading us. We are often judging ourselves (as the harshest critic) which is enough to create feelings of 'not good enough' as we analyse ever mistake. It is tough to be perfect, but also feeling as though we are on display can create what Brene Brown terms Excruciating Vulnerability.
When dealing with these feelings of pressure we have a few options according to Dr. J including remaining present, being curious, reminding yourself there are plenty of future opportunities, and to stick to your process.
In terms of our performance and leading others, this is how I interpret Dr. J's recommendations:
Create a system. When I am at my best I never focused on 'the task' when planning or approaching it. I mentally take a wider view. I see how the task fits into a larger sequence. It helps me see how this task is one of a whole ecosystem. Building a system of before-, during-, and after-routines is habit forming and creates familiarity. Familiarity builds confidence as well as giving context for the job at hand. Not only is this a good use of resources, it reminds us we have bigger fish to fry and that today's task is not that big a deal.
Think in questions and not answers. If there is one thing that builds pressure it is statements. When we put our opinion out there it is there to be judged (see point three from Dr. J's list above). We create a hill to die on. This is not helpful. What is helpful is to continually ask questions. If I am asking questions of my own presentation before the audience is then I am open, nimble, and have my finger on the pulse. If I am wondering why I feel like 'x' or why people are happy/angry/not following/apathetic, then I can start a conversation. The weightiness can be evaporate instantly and effectively through this action. It can be a difficult discipline to master. But, is available to us in every moment.
It is not what it is cracked up to be. I did really badly in my senior high school final grades. I got hit for 27 runs in the final over at the highest level of cricket I ever played to lose the match. I have forgotten a key reference name in front of a room of 100 CFO's. I have said the dumbest thing in an argument with my wife. Yet, I am still here. I survived all of that. As much as we are told how important today is, it really isn't. Anyone over 40 understands this, yet we fall for the same trick over and over. If you are presenting to the board, just know you will present to the board hundreds of times in your career - today's presentation doesn't matter that much.
Stick it out. Once your system is created it is to be questioned so it can be iterated and honed. Simultaneously the main focus is to simply stick to it. This is the definition of success. Forget the KPI's. Forget the scoreboard. Forget the feedback. Forget what others are saying. Forget the feelings. Forget the little voice in your head. If you stick to your system and your routines then you have been successful. The art of perseverance is the one common thread underpinning any form of predictable success (Grit, Angela Duckworth). What you say when you get out of bed, get out of the car, or get into the room (or all of the above) is, I am going to stick to my process and nothing else matters. It is one of the only controllable factors we have, so deep focus on this area is critical. Then, whatever needs to happen will happen.
The crippling feelings of pressure will continue to strike, and sometimes they will get through our safety net of well conceived Dr. J strategies. But, if we set ourselves to be Professional Pressure Overcomerers, then we'll find ourselves feeling the pinch less and feeling our rhythm more.
