RESILIENT UNDER PRESSURE. TEN AREAS EVERY LEADER MUST FOCUS ON
- James Rule
- Apr 17
- 5 min read
Resilience isn't a trait it is a practice. From the outside, leadership can look clean and straightforward.
But those of us living it know the truth: Leadership is challenging and it always will be.
The pressure doesn’t disappear as you become more senior. It becomes more complex. More visible. More constant.
Which is why resilience isn’t optional. Resilience is what allows you to keep showing up with consistency when the waves of challenge roll in.
It protects your energy, your mindset, your decision making, and ultimately your performance and fulfilment.
What Actually Builds Resilience?
In episode 111 of The Lonely Leader Podcast, (profiled at foot of this newsletter) I explore a question I’ve asked hundreds of leaders:
“What has made the biggest difference to your resilience?”
Across those conversations, ten themes repeatedly surfaced. This newsletter shares
those themes, practical resilience habits used by leaders who are in the trenches doing the work. Within the podcast episode I discuss them in more detail.
I also reference several episodes from The Lonely Leader back catalogue, because resilience is rarely built from one insight alone. It’s built from a combination of habits, awareness, and leadership behaviours.
1. CLARITY: YOUR NORTH STAR
Resilience becomes fragile when you don’t know:
• Where you are • Where you're trying to get to • What truly matters right now.
Without clarity, everything feels urgent and when everything feels urgent, your nervous system stays on high alert.
You become reactive. Stretched. Increasingly vulnerable to stress.
High performers don’t deal in ambiguity. They know what they’re aiming for. They know what success looks like.
And when they get knocked off course (as we all do) they have a North Star that brings them back.
If clarity is something you need to strengthen, I’d encourage you to explore:
Episode 84 – Leadership Essentials: Clarity
It’s one of the most foundational leadership skills.
2. GRATITUDE: THE MINDSET RESET
Gratitude sounds simple. Which is exactly why many leaders dismiss it.
But if you want resilience, you need tools that stabilise your mindset.
It is physiologically difficult to be in a sustained state of:
Anger, anxiety, frustration and gratitude at the same time.
Gratitude shifts perspective. It dampens the stress response, and it counterbalances the brain’s natural tendency to scan for threat, risk and problems.
If you want a simple starting point, I share a tool called “Three and Three” in:
Episode 4 – The Three and Three Gratitude Practice.
It’s a habit that sounds too small to matter… until you try it.
3. JOURNALING: CLEARING THE MENTAL NOISE
For years I resisted journaling. I told myself I was too busy. That I didn’t need another task.
I came to see journaling not as a task but as a release valve. It helps you:
Clear the head • Process what you're carrying • Reduce stress • Notice patterns before they become problems
Many leaders don’t need more thinking. They need somewhere to put their thinking. If you want a simple framework for journaling as a leader, explore:
Episode 15 – The power of utilising a journal
4. GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT: DON’T NEGLECT YOU
Many leaders become exceptional at supporting everyone else. Their teams. Their stakeholders. Their clients.
But they quietly neglect their own development.
High performing leaders have a deep need for progress. When that need isn’t met:
Energy drops. Mindset stagnates. Resilience wobbles.
Fresh insights are one of the most reliable resilience builders I see. Books. Podcasts. Courses. Mentors. Learning communities.
If you’re looking for leadership books that have shaped my thinking, I share several in:
Episode 3 – Leadership Books that shape high performance
5. RELATIONSHIPS: THE HIDDEN FOUNDATION OF RESILIENCE
Work can slowly bleed into the relationships that matter most.
It shows up as: Irritability, distraction, short temper, disengagement.
You’re physically there, but you're not really there.
The guilt and disconnection that follow become another drain on resilience. No leader reaches the end of their life wishing they invested less in the people they love.
So ask yourself: Who are you neglecting right now?
6. PASSIONS AND HOBBIES: THE PART OF YOU THAT ISN’T “THE LEADER”
This one is easy to dismiss, especially when life is busy, passions are not indulgence. They are restoration.
Most leaders can instantly answer this question: "What would you do if you had a day completely to yourself?"
The more important question is: When did you last do it?
7. MOVEMENT AND RECOVERY
As leaders become more senior, movement often declines.
The pattern becomes: Car → Desk → Meeting → Desk → Car → Sofa
That sedentary loop quietly drains resilience. Movement doesn’t need to be extreme.
A walk at lunch. Walking meetings. Walking the dog. Movement helps the body process the residue of stress.
If you want a deeper exploration of recovery and performance, listen to:
Episode 37 – Recovery: The missing link for high performance
8. CRITICISM: BUILD THE FILTER
Every leader will be criticised. Sometimes it's valid. Sometimes it’s misinformed. Sometimes it’s projection from someone else’s frustration.
The resilience killer is treating every piece of criticism as equal.
A useful rule: Don’t give weight to feedback from people you wouldn’t go to for advice.
If criticism is something you find draining, you may find value in:
Episode 8 – Leadership Essentials: Dealing with criticism
9. PSYCHOLOGICAL SAFETY: THE RESILIENCE MULTIPLIER
When teams don’t feel psychologically safe: They don’t challenge. They don’t speak up. They don’t share ideas.
When that happens…the leader carries the burden alone.
Psychological safety unlocks: Honest feedback, innovation, accountability, shared responsibility
If you want to build this inside your team, I explore it in:
Episode 22 – Creating psychological safety in your team
10. FEEDBACK CULTURE: RELEASE THE PRESSURE
Without feedback, organisations become pressure cookers. Difficult conversations get avoided. Mistakes repeat. Resentment builds.
Healthy feedback cultures keep pressure low and learning high.
I explore this in two episodes:
Episode 80 – Feedback Culture: Giving Feedback.
Episode 81 – Feedback Culture: Receiving Feedback
Leadership Challenge
Take a few minutes today and reflect on these questions:
Where am I lacking clarity right now?
Which relationship am I neglecting?
What passion or hobby have I drifted away from?
Where can I add movement into my week?
What criticism am I giving too much weight to?
Where is psychological safety missing in my team? What feedback is being avoided?
Now choose ONE area. Take ONE action in the next seven days. Small actions create momentum. Momentum creates change.
If this newsletter resonates and you'd like support building your own sustainable resilience framework tailored to your leadership role and context drop me a DM (or LinkedIn connection request)with the words “SUSTAINABLE RESILIENCE.”
My team and I will be in touch.
I wish you the best of luck on your continued journey of growth and development. Please enjoy the below episode in full via the links.
Episode 111 - Resilient under pressure. Ten areas every leader must focus on.
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