A weekly thought for leaders with the courage to introspect.
Boiling Point, Why Pressure Creeps Dangerously.
Edward has a pressure cooker in his office.
Not at home. At the office. Right next to a shiny golf trophy.
That looks a bit strange. As if his mother is going to come in later to cook potatoes.
But Edward thinks it is a beautiful object.
“That's me,” he always says.
Edward is the CEO of a biochemical company. And he thrives on pressure.
Pressure is to Edward what oxygen is to the rest of us.
Edward is the CEO of a biochemical company. And he thrives on pressure.
Pressure is to Edward what oxygen is to the rest of us.
He performs under pressure.
Under pressure, his business flourishes.
Result? Always excellent.
But Edward also knows: where there are results, disaster lurks just around the corner.
And so he relies on his self-built mechanism.
When the pressure gets too much, he grabs his golf clubs. Hence the trophy next to it.
It seems like control. It seems like balance.
But what appears strong on the outside can be fragile on the inside.
That goes for Edward.
That applies to his company.
That goes for all of us.
For whoever looks at the world from within himself sees everything — except himself.
And that's the danger of pressure.
Pressure doesn't build up in big bursts.
Pressure comes slowly.
A few degrees warmer. A notch higher. A little bit more.
Until it can't anymore.
I have seen it.
I once coached a CEO who lived his entire life under pressure.
He seemed to be handling it just fine. Until it was too late.
There was no big boiling point. No explosion.
For years it simmered. Until the pot was empty.
The disaster was unexpected and it was irreversible.
His life, his family, his health, everything changed.
Forever.
And that's why I said to Edward:
“That pressure cooker has got to go.”
A human being is not a device. Not a construction. Not a machine.
There is no manual. No automatic valve.
And that's exactly why pressure is so treacherous.
Pressure is beautiful if you guard it.
But pressure is disastrous if you underestimate it.
Pressure requires maintenance. Time. Relaxation. Self-reflection.
Don't wait until boiling point.
Don't think that you can handle it all.
A human being is more complex than steel.
More fragile than a pan.
And deserves better than slowly bubbling apart.
The space between the words is where insight arises.
Until next week when our thoughts touch again.
Hans Ruinemans, Boardroom Monk ☯️