Pressure Points 4 Better

Welcome to Pressure Points – my fortnightly look back at the last episode of my Better Under Pressure podcast. Here I share my reflections and a few ideas to take away that can enable us all to be… better under pressure.

In this episode, I’m in conversation with Tacita Small – founder of The Small HR Company, an HR Consultancy that supports businesses in the creative and entertainment industries with all aspects of HR and People needs.

As a senior HR leader, Tacita worked in-house for over two decades with many instantly recognisable brands such as Westfield, Ralph & Russo, Apple, Ministry of Sound, Freemantle and BBC Worldwide to name a few.

Below are my reflections from our chat and a few ideas to take away to enable us all to be… better under pressure.

4 Pressure Points

4 Better

1. 'It’s an uncomfortable pressure not being yourself at work – bring the whole of '

What do you do with the uncomfortable pressure of feeling that you can’t bring your whole self to work?

Tacita is very clear: She removes herself.

What struck me in my conversation with Tacita was her powerful agency. She went from choosing to fit in to choosing not to. It reminds me of the quote:

‘If you can’t be who you are where you are, then change where you are not who you are.’

Bringing our whole self to work is owned by us. Yes, leaders have a huge part to play in creating an environment where ‘whole self’ is valued and appreciated. AND we all have a choice to ask for what we want and why, in order to co-create the conditions that allow us to do our best work.

It has to involve robust, honest conversations so we can make requests of each other, and all choose. The decision, as with Tacita, might be to move.

Ask yourself:

• When and how do I recognise that I can’t be myself?
• What request can I make to be more fully myself? Who to?

2. 'Stay relevant'

The point that Tacita is making here is key:

Staying current and remaining relevant can be a pressure. With the world changing so rapidly, learning faster really is the biggest competitive advantage. But how do we lean in and get curious in these moments to learn more when our urges and instincts are often bossing us to keep doing MORE of what we’ve always done?

We need to keep looking up and looking out.

This reminds me of the point that David Shelley – CEO of Hachette - made when he spoke on the podcast. How important it is to lean into different sources across the business and ask questions to discover new insights - both internally and externally. Tacita knows that talking to younger people helps her business stay relevant. She says, ‘Speak to me. Teach me – because this is your world’.

Ask yourself:

• How can I remain relevant and current?
• Who would I reach out to help me understand more?

In each episode, I ask my guest to pick two things they do to perform well under pressure that they would pay forward to anyone listening.

Here are Tacita's "Pay Forwards":

3. Pay Forward 1:

"Know who you are"

Tacita emphasises the importance of remembering two things to enable you to bring the best of yourself to work:

1. You are not your role

2. There is always an individual behind the role - find out who they are.

Ask yourself:

• What matters to me?
• What could I ask anyone I work alongside in order to discover more about who they are beyond their role?

4. Pay Forward 2:

'Always look for the goodness in pressure'

There is always a positive force to be found in the energy of pressure. Know the journey you are on in your relationship with it. Know what pressure means to you so that you have ways to manage it rather than it managing you.

Tacita reminds us of the power of pausing before reacting and taking time to connect to the positive force to find (what she calls) your outside ‘barometers’.

Ask yourself:

• Where in my life would I benefit from connecting to a more positive force when under pressure?
• What practice would help me? (Pausing? Stepping away? Seeing the bigger picture?)

Hope you enjoyed this, and please share it with others.

Until next time,

Sara

Coaching Impact act