Performing Under Pressure
What happens when the pressure is on?
A demanding meeting. A difficult negotiation. A presentation. A major deadline. An important decision.
Most professionals recognise the feeling of pressure. Fewer understand what is actually happening physiologically when it occurs.
Surgery provides a fascinating lens through which to examine it.
Operating requires preparation, concentration, teamwork, communication and decision-making in an environment where distraction and cognitive overload matter.
This session explores the body's response to pressure and how it can affect:
Concentration
Memory
Communication
Decision-making
Voice & breathing
Physical symptoms
Confidence
Performance
Participants leave with a better understanding of their own responses to pressure and practical techniques they can use in demanding situations.
Suitable for :
leadership teams, lawyers, finance professionals, professional services, graduate programmes and high-performance teams.
Available as :
webinar, live talk or interactive workshop.
The emphasis is not on diagnosing illness in the workplace, but on understanding how the body responds to prolonged stress and recognising when symptoms deserve attention.
When Stress Becomes Physical
The symptoms we do not always connect with stress
Stress is often discussed as an emotional experience.
But it is also physiological.
As a doctor and surgeon, Dr Eze regularly sees the relationship between physical symptoms, the nervous system and the pressures people experience in their lives.
This session explores some of the ways in which stress can appear in the body, including:
disturbed sleep, muscle, tension, headaches, changes in breathing,
reflux, globus and throat symptoms, voice changes
tinnitus, fatigue.
Communication Under Pressure
Why capable people communicate differently when stressed
In an operating theatre, communication matters.
Information needs to be clear. Teams need to listen. People need to speak up. Assumptions can have consequences.
The corporate environment may be very different, but many of the underlying human behaviours are the same.
Under pressure, conversations can become shorter, faster and less precise.
Listening changes. Assumptions increase. Tone changes. Complex information becomes more difficult to process.
Drawing on experience from medicine and surgery, this session examines what happens to communication under stress and how teams can improve clarity when pressure is high.
Topics include:
- Listening under pressure
- Cognitive overload
- Difficult conversations
- Communicating uncertainty
- Avoiding assumptions
- Concise communication
- Remaining calm without becoming passive
Sustainable High Performance
Performing well without treating exhaustion as a badge of honour
Surgical performance cannot depend simply on pushing harder indefinitely.
Neither can performance at work.
This session looks at the physiology of sustained pressure and explores how individuals and organisations can think more intelligently about performance, recovery and capacity.
Topics include:
- Sleep
- Recovery
- Cognitive performance
- Concentration
- Stress physiology
- Recognising overload
- Performance over the long term
Bespoke sessions
Every organisation is different.
Sessions can be adapted around the needs of a particular team, event or professional audience.
A law firm preparing associates for greater responsibility may need something very different from a leadership team discussing sustainable performance.
Before a bespoke session, we can discuss:
- The audience
- The pressures they encounter
- The objectives of the event
- The appropriate level of scientific detail
- whether the session should be educational, interactive or discussion-based