Work Pressure: How does it really affect our performance?

We are all familiar with instances of high performing individuals and teams behaving, performing, and reacting very differently under high pressure situations. To quote an example during the last football world cup quarter finals where Spain, a previous world cup champion and ranked around 7 in the world at that time got knocked out in a penalty shootout since both teams were tied at the end of stipulated time and extra time.

What made it even more interesting was that was when the Spanish coach came back and said that Spain had practiced thousands of penalties during practice but failed to convert in the crucial knockout game, maybe because of the pressure which is not there in the practice sessions.

We have also felt that some individuals perform better under high pressure situations and take themselves and their teams to glory. But does this really happen and can this be really substantiated by real performance data? In fact, the ability to do this is one of the key factors which is often claimed to be reason for success of successful sportsmen about which I had written about in an earlier article link to which is also provided below for ready reference.

https://rejofrancis.com/key-routines-from-sports-leaders-for-success-in-every-day-life/

Before we get into that lets understand a bit more about what usually happens under pressure and how our behavior changes during such situations.

1. Negative Criticism on the other individual or individuals involved and trying to find flaws in the other person or process or backgrounds which is leading to your nonperformance and lower performance under pressure.
2. Contempt statements attacking the other individual on their shortfalls or lack of skills or dependability which is leading to the present situation.
3. Defensiveness - Is usually used to ward off a perceived attack or to make the other person defensive by accusing the other persons faults or lack of capabilities for the failures during these pressure situations.
4. Stonewalling - Find ways to purposefully ignore the other person or process.
5. Emotional Withdrawal - Withdrawing into a shell.
6. Turn Negative towards the planned goal - This can lead to animosity to the cause or goal or individual.
7. Suspicious relooking at every step and process - lack of trust in oneself and one's work.
8. Overthinking and wasting time - unable to finalize things and overanalyzing one's work.
9. More gossip - not ideal but unhappy people under pressure have to let it out somewhere.
10. Physical weakness and other changes leading to lower energy feel and hence lower productivity.

These are some of the behavioral changes that come about but there could be more and could vary from individual to individual.

Now let’s see what these kind of changes in our behavior leads to

The behavioral change by Pressure disrupts almost everything that we value in our life.

• Relationships
• Career
• Effectiveness
• Decision making
• Even Integrity
• and Health

Like I said in the beginning there are no real statistical results to show that a person can perform better consistently under pressure. We all see exceptional people perform remarkably well under pressure but that does not mean that they will be able to do that in every such pressure situation.

As humans we have built in tools to handle several or most of these pressures and the people whom we see being successful in some of these pressure situations are probably able to utilize these tools more effectively than some of us. That does not mean that we cannot learn those tools and tricks which will help us manage these pressures more effectively…

But keep in mind that doesn’t mean we will be able to pull it off every time.

To continue learning and understanding more about the various tools and techniques to help manage pressure and such situations better?do subscribe to my LinkedIn newsletter?Rejo’s Biz Bytes?and visit my website?www.rejofrancis.com.