Latest / Your Dream Coach Podcast / The Hidden Cost of a High-Pressure Culture
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- Your Dream Coach Podcast: Pressure gets results. That's what we've all been told. But if you've ever looked at a team that's hitting its numbers and still falling apart, you already know something's off. Today we're talking about really the question nobody asks is who is pressure culture actually for? Well, welcome to today's episode of Your Dream Coach Podcast. I'm your host, Shayla Way. And before we get into it, I want to remind you about something I'm genuinely excited about. My first book, Dream Bigger, Lead Better, launches December 1st, and it's built around exactly the kind of leadership we talk about on this show: the vision, the systems, and the honesty it takes to build something that lasts. And I'll share more as we get closer to that date. But on today's episode, this is really for any leader who has ever turned up the pressure to get results. And for anyone who's ever wondered why the results didn't last. Most leaders defined pressure culture with the same few lines. Pressure makes diamonds, or we have high standards here, or it's not for everyone. And those lines get repeated so often that almost, you know, nobody stops to interrogate them. And so that's what we're going to do, is that if you're running a team, you're building a sales floor, or you're leading people through growth, and you've been wondering whether the way you push is actually working, this episode's for you. And as I as I shared that on this podcast, we really look at leadership, fulfillment, and growth. Not as three different goals, but as one. And so I help entrepreneurs, business owners, and leaders dream bigger so that they can lead better. And how to build the vision, the sales, and the systems to get there, growing the business and the person that's running it. So today we're going to look at the framing everyone uses to justify pressure culture, the difference between pressure and standards, who pressure culture actually benefits, who it quietly costs. And exactly how to build a high performance culture that doesn't burn through your people to get there. So let's talk about the framing that nobody questions. And I want to start with a story that we've all been told. And the story goes like this: that pressure drives performance. If you want a team that wins, you have to push. Set aggressive targets, keep the heat on, rank everyone publicly, and the best will rise. The ones who can't handle it, you know, weren't a fit anyways. And here's the thing is that that story isn't completely wrong. Pressure can produce results, and I've seen that. And you probably have two. A leader cranks it up, the team is a big month, and everyone points out to, you know, points to the number as proof that it that it works. But notice what the story measures is it measures one month, one quarter, one contest. It almost never measures what happens after. It doesn't measure how many people quietly left six months later. It doesn't measure how many bad deals got closed to hit a number. It doesn't measure how many problems got hidden from the leader because nobody felt safe bringing them up. And it doesn't measure what it costs the owner to be the one holding the pressure every single day. And so that's the gap, is the justification for pressure culture is built on short-term results. And no one goes back to check the long-term receipt. And so today, instead of asking, does pressure work? I want to ask a better question. Who does it work for? Because when you follow the benefits and the costs, you start to see that pressure culture is usually designed to serve a few things and quietly charged to everybody else. And so when we look at pressure versus standards, because before we go further, is I want to make a really important distinction because I'm not about to tell you to lower the bar. I believe in high standards. I built my whole career in sales and leadership. Is I believe in targets, accountability, scoreboards, competition, but pressure and standards are not the same thing. A standard is a clear expectation held consistently with support. Everyone knows what good looks like. Everyone knows how they're measured. And when somebody falls short, the leader's first move is to coach, not to threaten. And then pressure is emotional weight applied to force and outcome. It's urgency without clarity. It's the feeling that your job, your worth, or your standing is on the line every single week. And so it's the leaders, the leader's stress being handed down to the team. And so here's the simplest way that I can say it is standards tell people what to aim for. Pressure tells people what to be afraid of. And so here's why this is this matters is a team can have extremely high standards and very low fear. And those are often the best teams in the world. Is a team can have low standards and constant pressure. And those are usually the most exhausting places to work because everybody's stressed and nobody's clear on what winning even looks like. And so when you hear a leader say, we just have high standards here, it's worth asking, are those standards or is that pressure wearing a nicer name? And so my question for you is that if your team described how it feels to miss a target on your team, would they describe a standard or a threat? And I'll be honest with you, I've been on both sides of it. I have been in roles, you know, building my team in my company where I have felt sort of scared day to day and worried and the pressure relating my identity to my worth and how that spiraled. And I've also been on the other side of it where my systems are so strong that I know that those standards are in place, right? And so again, you you've probably experienced this. And I've just learned that pressure is usually the fastest tool that a leader has because it's quick. It's visible and it gets reaction, but fast isn't the same as effective. And a reaction isn't the same as ownership. So let's follow the benefits is who does this actually benefit? When a leader builds a pressure culture, who actually wins? Well, one is the short-term number. And this is the obvious one: is that pressure can absolutely spike a result at the end of the month, end of the quarter, a contest deadline. People dig deep, they stay late and they make the extra calls. The numbers go up. But notice what's benefiting. It's not the business long term, it's the number on the report this month. And so pressure is very good at borrowing from the future to pay for the present. People pull deals forward, they push clients who weren't ready, they skip the follow-up that would have built a referral, and the month looks good. And the next one starts, you know, from a hole. The second is the leader's own anxiety because this is one almost nobody talks about, and it connects to what we talked about last time on success anxiety. A lot of pressure culture isn't a strategy. It's a coping mechanism. And so when the leader is anxious about the numbers, about the payroll, about the board or the boss, you know, what they will say, turning up the pressure on the team feels like doing something. It gives the leader a sense of control. And but but but feeling in control and actually leading are not the same. So when the pressure is really what it's really about is calming your own nerves and your team isn't being led. They're absorbing your stress. And I see this all the time with business owners who are in the bottleneck, is they don't have systems that show them what's really happening in the business, so they don't trust it. And when you don't trust it, you push. And pressure fills the gap where clarity should be. The third is the few who thrive in it. Every pressure culture has a handful of people who love it. They're competitive, they're hungry, and pressure fires them off up and they become the proof. See, look at our top performer. The system works. And those people are real, and I love those people. I've recruited and developed a lot of them. But here's the catch. When you design the entire culture around the few who thrive under pressure, you're building a team for your top 10% and quietly losing the other 90. And often, even though those high performers don't stay, pressure fires them up in the short term. But they they burn hot and they burn out. Or they get recruited by someone who offers them the same challenge without the constant weight. And the fourth is the leader's ego. is I'll say this one gently because I think most of us have been there. Pressure culture can make a leader feel important. When everything runs through you, when the team's energy rises and falls with your mood, when the big pushes only happen when you're driving them, it feels like you're the engine. But if you're the engine, you're also the bottleneck. And a team that only performs under your pressure is a team that can't perform without you. And that's not a business that that can grow beyond you. And so when you add it up press pressure culture Mostly benefits this month's numbers. The leaders need to feel in control and a small group of people who happen to thrive in it and the leaders' sense of being essential. And so now let's look at who pays for it. So who quietly pays for this is number one is your steady performers, is they are the people that show up, they do the work, they take care of clients, and they hit solid numbers month after month. And they're the backbone of most teams. And they're usually the first ones to quietly check out under a pressure culture. And they don't make a scene, they don't complain in the meeting, they just start updating their resume because they can do the job well, but they don't feel like they're they're they just feel like they're one bad week week away from being in trouble. And so when you leave, you lose the consistency that your business actually runs on. The second is honesty. This is the most expensive cost and it's inevitable, is when people are afraid of the consequences of a bad number. They stop telling you the truth. Pipelines get padded, problems get hidden until they're too big to hide. Nobody raises their hand to say I'm stuck because that feels dangerous. And so the leader thinks everything is fine, right up until it isn't. And so pressure doesn't cost you morale, it costs you information. And a leader without accurate information makes worse decisions. The third is your clients, is that pressure flows downhill. So when your team is under constant pressure to close. The client feels it. They feel pushed instead of served. They buy something they weren't ready for. And then they they cancel, they ask for a refund, or they never refer anyone. And I've always believed that sales done right is service. So pressure culture turns service into a transaction. And transactions don't build the reputation that grows a business long term. The fourth is your future, is every time someone good leaves, you pay for it. You pay to recruit, to hire, to onboard, to train. You pay in the months it takes a new person to ramp up. And you pay in the bench strength that you never got to build because nobody stayed long enough to become the next leader. And so when I think about building teams that last, the real asset isn't the top performer this month. It's the people you're developing into the leaders who'll run the business two years from now. And so pressure rarely gets people that far. And number five is you. The person who pays the most is often the leader. Because here's the thing about pressure. It has to be applied by someone every day. And if your culture runs on pressure, you have to keep generating it. And that is exhausting. And you can never let up because the minute you do, the performance drops. You've built a machine that only runs when you're pushing it. And that's not freedom. That's not the dream that you started this business for. That's a job that you created for yourself that you can never step away from. So, my question for you is if you stepped away from your team for two weeks, would performance hold? Or does it only run when you're pushing? And so when we look at high performance and how that feels, is if pressure isn't the answer, well, what is, right? Because I'm not interested in a soft, comfortable team that doesn't hit goals. I want to lead a team and coach people to build teams that win. And we want to keep winning. And so what I found. For high performance cultures, how they actually run is, and it maps right into the three pillars, which is what I talk about on the show. Is first one being fulfillment. The the why is shared. People don't sustain effort for your number. They sustain effort for something they care about. And so the best teams know why the work matters and they know how it connects to their own goals, why they are what they are building towards, a house, freedom, a promotion, proving something. To themselves. And so when a leader knows their people's dreams and connects the work to them, you don't have to push. People pull. And that's the difference between a team that's driven by fear and a team that's driven by purpose. The second is leadership. Standards are held through coaching, not fear. The bar stays high, but when someone misses it, the conversation is about growth, not threat. What's got in the way? What do you need? What are we going to do differently? And that doesn't mean that there are no consequences. Accountability is still real, but accountability without fear sounds very different. It's direct, it's clear, and it's delivered by a leader who actually believes in the person in front of them. And the third is the growth, the systems carry the weight. In a pressure culture, the leader carries the weight. In a high performance culture, the system does. Clear processes, visible scoreboards that everyone understands. leading indicators like activity and conversion, not just the final number. And so regular rhythms like weekly huddles and even just those one-on-one conversations are so important. And so when the system shows that where everyone stands, you don't need to create urgency with your emotions. The clarity creates it. People can see what they need to do, but they you know that they can do it without waiting for you to push. But those three together and you get a team that performs because it's clear supported and connected, not because it's scared. So how do we make this shift? Well, if we are going to actually move from pressure to performance, there's five places that we can start. One is to audit your pressure points. So just looking at the last month, where did you turn up the heat? A tense meeting, a sharp message, maybe as a public call-up. And so for each one, ask, was that about their performance or about my anxiety? Just noticing the pattern is the first shift. The second is measure the process, not just the outcome. If you only track the final number, the only lever you have is pressure. So start tracking the behaviors that drive the number, convert, you know, conversations, follow-ups, conversion numbers, whatever matters in your business, then coach to those. So it turns from hit your numbers into here's exactly what to work on. Okay, third thing is learn your people's dreams. In your next round of one-on-ones, ask each person, what are you working toward? Inside and outside of work, write it down and then connect their goals to that dream. And you will be amazed by how much energy comes from someone feeling seen. And then the fourth is redesign your contests and incentives. Competition is great. I love a good contest. But look at what you're rewarding. If it's only the final number, you'll get pulled forward deals and burned out people. Reward the right behaviors, reward improvement, and create ways for more than the top three to win. Make the contest something that people want to be a part of, not something they're afraid to lose. And the fifth is make bad news safe. Tell your team directly, I would rather hear about a problem early than find out late. And then prove it. The first time someone brings you bad news, how you react will decide whether anyone ever does it again. And so think them and then solve it together. And so a question I have for you is when was the last time someone on your team brought you bad news early? And if you cannot remember that, that's the first thing to fix. So who does performance pressure culture actually benefit? Mostly this month's number. The leaders need to feel in control, a small group who happens to thrive in it. And it quietly charges everyone else: your steady performers, your clients, your future leaders, and you. So you don't have to choose between high performance and a healthy team. The best teams have both. So keep the standards high, take the fear out. And let the system carry the weight and connect the work to something that your people actually care about. Dream bigger for your team, not just your numbers. Lead better so they perform because they're clear, not because they're scared. And grow smarter by building systems that don't need you pushing every single day. So if this episode helped, it would mean so much if you take a minute to support the show. On Apple Podcasts, you can leave a rating and a review. And on Spotify, hit follow and give it a rating. And on YouTube, you can just drop a comment and tell me, has your team been running on standards or on pressure? Continue to dream bigger so you can lead better. I'll see you next time.