What athletes know about pressure that most leaders don’t
My athletic career peaked at 5'2", sitting in a tiny seat at the front of a rowing shell, yelling at four men twice my size.
I was a coxswain. Which means I never actually rowed.
I steered. I called strategy. I screamed encouragement (and occasionally threats and curse words) into a guy’s face while he and 3 other dudes did all the physical work.
It's possible this is why I became a coach.
But here's what I learned from that tiny seat, and later from a sports psychology class in grad school that genuinely changed how I think about performance:
The mental game matters. A whole lot.
So if you've ever frozen in a meeting, over-prepared for a presentation and still blanked, or wondered why you can handle everything except the moments that matter most? You’ll want to keep on reading.
Why most leaders were never taught to perform under pressure
Here's the thing about high-stakes moments in sports: everyone expects them.
You train for them.
You visualize them.
You have a coach in your corner whose entire job is to prepare you mentally and physically for the moment when everything counts.
But then you enter the working world.
And suddenly you're just…supposed to know how to present to the board?
Navigate a brutal performance conversation?
Or make a high-visibility decision under pressure…with zero training and nobody giving you a Gatorade and a pep-talk?
Cool, cool, cool.
Because no one hands you a playbook for what to do when your brain completely abandons you mid-meeting.
Or why you can rehearse a presentation a hundred times and still blank the moment it matters.
Or why the higher you climb, the harder it gets to access the confidence you know you have.
You're just supposed to figure it out.
And most people do. I mean, sort of.
They white-knuckle their way through it. Fake it til they make it. And then replay every stumble on a loop at 2am like it's their favorite show.
Surviving pressure and performing under it aren’t the same thing. Not even close.
What elite athletes know that most leaders don't
Let me tell you about a client of mine.
She made a high-visibility mistake at work. Not career-ending, but the kind that lives rent-free in your head. And instead of shaking it off and moving on, she went into a full slump.
Every meeting felt loaded. Every decision felt risky. She was so laser-focused on not messing up again that she could barely think straight.
Which meant she kept messing up. Which made the anxiety worse. Which meant she kept messing up.
You see where this is going.
Here's what's wild: this wasn't a confidence problem. It wasn’t a competence problem. It wasn’t even an anxiety problem.
It was an attention problem.
And it happens to elite athletes all the time.
The free throw shooter who's told "don't miss" and promptly misses.
The golfer who's playing perfectly until they start thinking about their swing.
The pitcher who can't stop thinking about the last wild throw.
If you want to geek out about this and impress your friends with fancy sciencey words, this is called ironic process theory (the harder you try not to do something, the more your brain rehearses doing exactly that thing - so you end up…doing exactly that thing).
And here's what athletes learn (usually with the help of a coach) that most leaders never do:
Performance improves by learning to direct your attention deliberately.
Elite performers aren't less nervous than everyone else. And they're not immune to pressure or self-doubt.
They've just learned what to focus on (and what to let go of) when everything is on the line.
You’ve been training for this longer than you think
You’ve been figuring things out the hard way your whole career (ahem, life?).
Nobody handed you a mental performance coach or step-by-step playbook. You just…figured it out. And you showed up.
You’ve had to start new jobs (hello, scary).
You’ve had to prove yourself, while also learning on the job.
You’ve survived (barely) getting a “I need to meet with you” message from your boss.
You’ve been passed over for a promotion while watching someone less qualified get the job.
And you’ve probably made mistakes - I inexplicably sent a professional email to new clients with a video of Tom Cruise in Mission impossible attached and also realized I’d been sending my assistant random TikTok videos for months. Oh well.
If you've ever pushed through something hard, gotten back up after a setback, or white-knuckled your way through a high-stakes moment?
You've been doing mental training this whole time.
You just never got credit for it.
The performance skills that transfer (and how to activate them)
After working with a bunch of D1 athletes, professional athletes, and folks who (like me) peaked at aggressively yelling at people from a tiny boat - Here’s what I know:
The tools are pretty much the same any time you’re trying to perform under pressure, whether it be on a football field or in a conference room.
Pre-performance routines - Routines are great for getting your mind and body ready to do a job. This could be some Amy Cuddy-style body language stuff in a bathroom stall, laughing with your coworkers, listening to a pre-game song, or even taking a couple deep breaths
Attentional focus - Your brain will focus on what you tell it to focus on. So think about the "Good job" fist bump you got instead of the weird face Susan made during your presentation
Visualization - Things happen in your brain before they happen in real life. So imagine yourself walking into the room like you own it, start seeing yourself as a leader before you get the promotion
Arousal regulation - Stress isn’t your enemy. You just need to know the difference between stress that's useful (go with it! even nerves are getting you ready to do a great job!) and overwhelm/freeze (you need to release the pressure a little)
Oh, and that client in the slump? D1 athlete. Had all the tools the whole time and never thought to use them at work.
How to reset after a mistake
So…this one gets its own section, because nothing spins high-achievers out more than a mistake.
And the higher you climb, the worse it gets. Because the stakes feel higher, the audience feels bigger, and your whole identity is built around being the person who gets it right.
High-achievers HATE to mess up. Like, down into your soul level of hate.
Your go-to response is to replay the mistake on a loop while eating sad ice cream on the couch and questioning every decision you've ever made.
But here's what the most successful people actually do differently: they don't fail less. They're just better at it.
Instead of dwelling in sad ice cream territory, they learn from it, move on, and (this is the part nobody talks about) they know that mistakes can actually make you more likable.
Don't believe me? Google "HBO Max intern email." An intern accidentally sent a test email to millions of subscribers. The internet didn't come for them. They rallied around them. Hundreds of people responded by sharing their own most embarrassing work moments. And that intern went from zero to hero with one accidental email.
People want you to be human, not perfect.
So next time you mess up (and you will, because you're human and also apparently some of us are sending Tom Cruise videos to clients) try this: tell yourself the mistake makes you charming and likable.
Because science actually backs this up. Psychologists call it the Pratfall Effect. Competent people become MORE likable after making mistakes, not less.
The reset is simple: learn from it, let it make you more human, and move on. Don’t make it the whole story.
The one thing elite athletes have that most leaders don't
Elite athletes don't just train harder than everyone else. They have someone in their corner whose entire job is to help them perform when it counts.
Not when it's easy. When everything is on the line.
You've been figuring it out alone. Through the shitty bosses, the missed promotions, the sad ice cream moments, the inexplicable Tom Cruise emails.
And honestly? You've done a pretty impressive job.
But the most successful performers in the world, at every level, have always had coaches.
Not because something was wrong with them. But because performing at the highest level is hard, and having the right support changes everything.
If you're ready to stop white-knuckling it and start actually performing under pressure, let's talk.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What is the Pratfall Effect?
A:The Pratfall Effect is a psychological phenomenon where competent people actually become more likable after making a mistake. Psychologists believe that mistakes make high-achievers seem more human and relatable, which increases trust and connection rather than undermining it. So yes, that embarrassing email you sent actually helped you.
Q: What is ironic process theory?
A: Ironic process theory, developed by psychologist Daniel Wegner, explains why trying not to think about something makes you think about it more. The harder you try not to mess up, the more your brain rehearses messing up - which is why high-achievers often spiral after a mistake and end up making more of them. The fix isn't trying harder. It's redirecting your attention deliberately.
Q: How do elite athletes perform under pressure?
A:Elite athletes perform under pressure through a combination of mental tools including pre-performance routines, visualization, attentional focus, arousal regulation, and the ability to reset after mistakes. These aren't innate personality traits. They're trainable skills that apply just as well in a boardroom as on a field.
Q: How do I stop freezing under pressure at work?
A: Freezing under pressure is usually anxiety that comes from an attention problem, not a confidence problem. Your brain is focused on what could go wrong rather than what to do next. Techniques like pre-performance routines, deliberate attentional focus, and arousal regulation (all borrowed from sports psychology!) can help you redirect your attention and access the performance you're actually capable of.
Q: Can sports psychology help with leadership and performance at work?
A:Absolutely. The mental principles that help elite athletes perform under pressure - like managing nerves, resetting after mistakes, directing attention deliberately, visualizing success. These all apply directly to high-stakes leadership moments like presentations, difficult conversations, and high-visibility decisions. The tools are the same. The arena is just different.
Q: What does a performance coach do?
A:A performance coach helps high-achievers close the gap between how they're currently showing up and how they're capable of showing up, especially under pressure. Using a combination of strategy and psychology, a performance coach helps you identify what's getting in your way, build the mental tools to perform when it counts, and stop white-knuckling your way through high-stakes moments alone.
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Hi! I’m Erica
Licensed psychotherapist. Corporate dropout. Wife to Brendan. Mom to twins + one. ADHDer. Slow runner. Coffee drinker. Swear words enthusiast.
I know exactly what it’s like to have a life that looks successful on the outside but feel chronically exhausted, frustrated, and completely lost on the inside.
I help underachieving high-achievers create lives and careers they love, without burning out.
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