When Pressure Rises, How Does Your Team Respond?
There is something about the early weeks of the year that hold both possibility and pressure at the same time.
Goals are set. Deadlines feel closer than they look. Decisions need to be made before momentum can fully build.
For leadership teams, this is often the moment when long-term strategy collides with short-term urgency. And when that collision happens, the real test is not whether people are committed. It is whether the team actually works well together. Because in those moments, leadership is rarely about vision statements or goals on paper. It is about how your team operates when time is short, stakes are real, and clarity is incomplete.
As you look ahead, I invite you to reflect on this question:
How does your team operate when things feel heightened?
This is the leadership work most teams never explicitly talk about, yet every team experiences. And it is often where the greatest opportunity for growth lives.
Best,
Susanne
When pressure rises, most teams default to habits they have never named. This month’s team exercise is designed to slow that moment down.
Instead of talking in general terms about “how we work,” this guided activity helps teams surface what actually supports them and what gets in the way when things move fast. Through individual reflection and shared mapping, teams create a small set of clear working agreements they can return to when urgency starts to drive decisions.
The result is not more rules.
It is shared clarity.
Click below to access the full step-by-step exercise.
My Favorite Resources
Great leaders never stop learning. Each month, I’ll share a few resources–books, articles, podcasts, and tools–to help you lead with clarity and confidence. This month’s resources are focused on how to identify what may be holding your team back during high pressure situations and how to grow together.
Book
The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni
A personal favorite. Lencioni offers a practical lens on trust, conflict, and accountability, and why those elements matter most when the stakes are high.
Article
"A New Social Contract for Teams" by Keith Ferrazzi
This article highlights why teams must move beyond politeness and silos and adopt new behaviors if they want to make better decisions and grow together.
Plan Early!
It might still be winter, but some leadership teams are already thinking ahead to summer.
I am beginning to book summer retreat facilitation, and several teams have already secured their dates.
If you and your leadership team are considering a summer retreat and want a thoughtful, well-designed experience that creates clarity and alignment, I would love to talk.
Planning early makes all the difference. If you are curious what a facilitated retreat could look like for your team, email me to find a time to talk.
