How One Marcus Aurelius Quote Changed My Leadership
One quote from Marcus Aurelius helped me navigate a difficult leadership conversation and reminded me that clear communication is one of a leader's greatest responsibilities.
What My Business Coach Taught Me About Performing Under Pressure
Before COVID, my business coach asked me a question I couldn't answer: What would you do if your back was against the wall? Years later, during one of the most difficult seasons of my career, I realized I had been living the answer. Here's what I learned about performing under pressure, staying focused, and discovering capacity you never knew you had.
What My Business Coach Meant by "When Your Back Was Against the Wall"
There are lessons that make sense immediately.
Then there are lessons that take years to understand.
Before COVID, business was in a good place. We were growing, hiring, and thinking about the future. During one of our coaching sessions, my business coach, Ola Sage, asked me a question that stuck with me. (I've written before about the incredible impact Ola Sage had on my life.)
"What would you do if your back was against the wall?"
At the time, I didn't really have an answer.
Honestly, I couldn't even imagine the situation she was describing.
It sounded like a good coaching question, but not a real one.
Then COVID happened.
Looking back, it feels like that question had been waiting for me all along.
The years that followed brought shutdowns, inflation, labor shortages, supply chain issues, and a constant need to adapt. More recently, our business shut down our kitchen while moving into a new location. We waited on permits, balanced customer expectations, found ways to keep our team working, and fulfilled large catering orders despite not having a kitchen of our own.
Somewhere in the middle of all that, I realized something.
I wasn't thinking about Ola's question anymore.
I was living it.
When your back is against the wall, you stop spending energy wishing things were different.
You stop negotiating with reality.
You stop waiting to feel ready.
You simply do the next thing that has to be done.
And somehow, another gear appears.
Not because you suddenly become stronger overnight.
Because the situation no longer allows you to waste energy on everything that doesn't matter.
I've written before about learning how to carry stress, and this season became another chapter in that lesson. The circumstances changed, but the work stayed the same: accept reality, focus on the next step, and keep moving.
I wouldn't have believed that version of myself existed a few years ago.
Not because I lacked ability.
Because I had never needed it.
How to Perform Under Pressure Without Panicking
If there's one thing this experience has taught me, it's that performing under pressure isn't about becoming fearless.
It's about becoming focused.
When everything feels urgent, remind yourself that you don't have to solve every problem today.
You only have to solve the next one.
Accept reality as quickly as you can. Fighting the situation only wastes energy you could use moving forward.
Narrow your time horizon. Today's problem is usually enough.
Trust the habits you've already built. Years of solving small problems prepare you for the big ones, even when you don't realize it.
Keep moving. Momentum creates clarity.
Most importantly, don't confuse feeling unprepared with actually being unprepared.
Sometimes life asks more of us than we think we have to give.
Then we discover we had more to give all along.
When Ola asked me that question years ago, I couldn't imagine my back being against the wall.
That's the funny thing about life.
You don't get to choose the questions.
You only get to choose how you'll answer them.
Looking back, I finally understand what she was trying to teach me.
She wasn't teaching me how to survive a crisis.
She was teaching me to trust that, when the moment came, I would become the person it required.
Looking back, I think that's what pressure does.
It doesn't just test us.
It finishes some of the work that comfort never could.
“Know what’s enough. Build what matters.”
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