Leadership in a Time of Pressure: Two Paths, One Choice

Pressure doesn’t create possibility without permission.

The business environment right now?
Unstable. Fast-moving. Unpredictable.

AI is changing workflows.
Politics are influencing supply chains.
Markets are volatile.
Teams are exhausted.

And in the midst of it all, leaders are being watched more closely than ever. Not just for the decisions they make, but for how they show up when nothing feels certain.

I’m seeing two kinds of leadership emerge in moments like this.

The Pressure Leader (full of fear)

This leader moves fast. But they lead with fear.

“We don’t have time to get this wrong.”
“If we don’t figure this out, someone else will, and we’ll be left behind.”
“If you’re not keeping up, we’ll need to find people who can.”

At face value, this sounds like urgency. But underneath it? It’s fear.
And that fear gets passed down to everyone on the team. It creates pressure. Tension. Quiet panic.

The message is: Perform, or else.

What happens next is predictable:

• People stop taking risks

• Innovation shuts down

• Energy contracts

• And survival becomes the unspoken strategy

It’s leadership that sounds powerful, but it actually pulls the team apart.

The Permission Leader (full of hope)

This leader doesn’t pretend to have the answers.
They acknowledge the complexity.
They name the truth: These are new problems. And we’re all figuring it out as we go.

“No one is an expert in this yet.”
“We’re going to build capability together.”
“We’ll make mistakes—and learn faster because of them.”

This is a different kind of strength. One rooted in trust, not control.
And it creates something rare: space.

Space to try.
Space to question.
Space to stop and pivot without shame.
Space to build something better, not just faster.

These leaders don’t broadcast certainty.
They model curiosity. And that’s what fuels innovation.

The Future Belongs to the Second Kind

The businesses that will adapt, evolve, and thrive through uncertainty will be the ones led by people who know:

• Pressure doesn’t create better work.

• Fear doesn’t drive smarter decisions.

• And leadership isn’t about proving you know more than everyone else.

It’s about creating permission for your team to think, try, learn, and lead with you.

Because no one builds something new by being afraid to be wrong.
They build it by being brave enough to go first, and safe enough to figure it out together.

A Thought Exercise

Imagine two emails from two leaders in the same company:

We can figure the future out if we invite people to the table in the right way.

Pressure Leader Email
Subject: We can’t afford to fall behind
“I don’t need to tell you how fast everything is shifting; AI, the market, the expectations. We’re already seeing teams fall behind across the industry, and I don’t want us to be one of them. This is a moment where performance matters. We need people who are ready to step up, take ownership, and push hard.”

Permission Leader Email
Subject: We’re navigating new territory, together
“These are new challenges, and no one has it all figured out. What we need now is openness, adaptability, and a willingness to try. You don’t need to be perfect. You just need to be engaged. We’ll build the rest together.”

Now ask yourself:

Which leader would you work harder for?
Which one would you learn under?
Which one would you stay with through uncertainty?

Exactly. Us too.

Pressure says: Figure it out, or else.
Permission says: Let’s figure it out…together.

The call to action to all of us is we get to choose which one we want to be.