Better Under Pressure

Helena Maus is the CEO of Archetype, a global communication and marketing agency. She describes herself as an atypical CEO and is passionate about furthering Archetype’s vision to build a model of the agency of the future and driving Archetype’s client charter, in which success is mutual and excellence is pursued relentlessly. 

Previously Helena served as CEO at Bite, was partner at the OutCast Agency and held several in-house roles, including chief of staff at Yahoo.

In our conversation, she shares how small moments of humiliation became a source of conveying her truth, How growing up in a government-assisted social housing experiment impacts the way she leads, and what happened when her husband told her to quit.

 

Outline:
00:00 Intro 
02:06 Can you remember the first time feeling pressure?
12:54 What's your way of describing pressure?
25:00 How do you notice pressure turning up for you now?
28:00 Highlight 1: Lesson learned
33:05 Moments of weakness turned to moments of power
39:47 Trust is the biggest lesson for a leader
42:50 Family and personal pressure
47:12 Highlight 2: Lesson learned
48:33 Pretense and confidence
55:08 2 pieces of advice on how to be better under pressure
01:00:51 Outro

Anna Rafferty is The Lego Group's VP of Digital Consumer Engagement. She leads the Lego Group's direct engagement with consumers of all age groups, which takes many forms, from magazine, publishing, community management and social engagement to digital products like apps and websites, creator programmes and events. She also takes additional responsibility for Digital Child Safety, Rights and Wellbeing in the company.
 
Prior to her experience in The Lego Group, Anna worked as Digital Director at BBC Studios, Director of Product, Content & Creative at Pottermore, and Managing Director at Penguin Books. She is also Chair of the Women’s Prize for Fiction, a Commissioner for the Digital Futures Commission and sits on the Media, Entertainment & Sports Council for the World Economic Forum.
 
In this episode of the Better Under Pressure podcast, we discuss how Anna 'backs herself' in moments of pressure, the power of procrastination, and why she relates to the song 'Surface Pressure' from the Disney film Encanto.

 

Outline
00:00 Intro
02:19 When do you remember feeling pressure for the first time?
08:06 How did your childhood enable you to deal with the forges mentioned?
17:47 In your leadership journey how have you learnt to recognise pressure and decide how to sort it out? 
24:47 Highlight 1 - Lesson learnt
29:22 Does pressure ever catch you out? 
32:12 How do you lead people when their pressure threshold is different to yours? 
36:45 Do you share with your team the times when you feel pressure?
40:26 Highlight 2 - Lesson learnt
42:33 What is the worst pressure that you have ever dealt with?
48:53 The power of perspective in decision making
54:33 What 2 pieces of advice would you pass forward to people listening?
56:32 Do you follow the same strategy of handling pressure in your family life?
01:00:34 Outro

In this episode of Better Under Pressure, I sit down with Cheryl Giovannoni. Cheryl is the CEO of the Girls' Day School Trust, one of the UK's leading charities, taking on the education of over 180,000 girls in 23 schools and two academies across the UK. She leads an organisation of 4,000 team players who dedicate daily to fulfilling their mission of 'helping girls learn without limits.'

In our conversation, we discuss how her team's helped her identify what she needs when she is feeling under pressure. As well as the significance of having a job she genuinely cares about rather than enjoys and why it's become vital to have a team that can, as she puts it, "turn on a dime."

 

Outline
00:00 Intro
02:02 How would you describe your relationship with pressure?
05:50 When do you remember first experiencing pressure?
08:59 How do you actively handle your pressure
14:19 How do you manage yourself as well as others through the long-term sense of pressure 
17:13 What is the greatest pressure that you’ve experienced
21:55 Highlight: Lesson learnt
23:09 What has pressure taught you about yourself
25:32 How was your career transition from WPP into education?
28:34 What are your thoughts on the education system?
31:55 2 Pieces of advice from Cheryl on how to be better under pressure
36:45 Highlight 2: Lesson learnt
42:32 Outro

Fran Boorman is an award-winning business leader, having built and exerted a multi-million-pound turnover business while bringing up two young children. Subsequently, Fran launched groundbreaking Goal 17, a mentor training company known for innovative social impact programs. She was voted the UK's number 1 female business influencer by Global Woman and is featured in Forbes and on the BBC. 

Her businesses now partner with some of the biggest global sporting brands, including premier league football clubs and premiership rugby clubs. In addition, she is a non-executive director of several high growth businesses and is currently creating an exciting new technology platform to bring millions of people together in meaningful mentoring partnerships to improve equality.
 
In our conversation, she reveals how she borrows from the lesson she learnt as a semi-professional skier, the importance of surrounding yourself with people who are limitless and how the word "Yes" forced her to become comfortable with being uncomfortable.

 

Outline
00:00 Intro
02:33 How do you experience pressure? 
05:50 When was your first experience with pressure? 
11:25 How does practice in sports translate into business?
13:54 What has been the hardest pressure you have ever dealt with?
16:20 How do you recognize the pressure and how do you deal with it?
21:24 Highlight 1: Lesson learnt 
22:55 What's the balance for you when dealing with pressure? 
36:50 How do you learn to distinguish pressure?
39:12 Highlight 2: Lesson learnt
40:21 What are you currently doing? 
45:03 What is it that pushes you into an area that some else can not do and how?
53:38 What do you do when working with teams while dealing with pressure? 
55:07 What do you think is your next pressure moment? 
Outro 

In this episode of Better Under Pressure, I sit down with Alan Jones, Head Teacher at Fulham Cross Academy in West London. Alan has over 20 years of experience as a teacher, and the last sixteen he's spent as a school leader.

 

I had the pleasure to work with Alan just before the pandemic when he was working at Fulham Cross Girls School, where he invited us to work with the girls on supporting them as they prepared to deal with the pressure of exams.

In our conversation, he talks about the difference between boys' and girls' reactions to dealing with the pressure of exams, anticipating Ofsted and the inexplicable power of an orange tie.

 

Outline
00:00 Intro
01:46 How do you experience pressure now?
03:32 How have you dealt with never-ending pressure?
05:04 How do you recognise a really pressured moment?
06:27 What is your personal strategy for dealing with different types of pressure? 
10:40 What's been the worst pressure for you?
12:40 When do you first remember feeling a sense of pressure?
13:42 Did your experience make you better under pressure?
16:58 Highlight 1: lesson learnt
18:23 What's been your perception of pressure for young women and young men through the educational system? 
22:54 What could we do to help young people manage themselves through the educational system?
27:04 How do you lead staff to deal with pressure?
33:02 What do you actually do when dealing with pressure?
40:39 Pieces of advice from Alan in relation to the way we can all be better under pressure
42:20 Highlight 2: lesson learnt

On this episode of Better Under Pressure, I am joined by Nilema Bhakta-Jones, Group General Counsel for Kantar, the world's leading data, insights and consulting company.

Nilema and I first crossed paths at the Courageous Leadership event she founded to fund an education project run by the charity Plan International to continue the education of disadvantaged girls in Zimbabwe, where she was born. She is a qualified Barrister and, in 2020, was named one of the 100 Women to Watch by Cranfield University.

During our chat, she talks about navigating pressure when it feels deeply personal, the strength that she gains from connecting to family legacy and sacrifice, and how the image of a lioness got her through a moment of immense pressure.

 

Outline
00:00 Intro
06:30 When do you experience different pressures?
09:59 How do you deal with pressure?
15:32 How do you tap into the universe?
16:35 Insight
17:42 How have you learnt to take that pause?
19:40 How do you create a pause for yourself and the team?
24:35 What do you do when people around you have pressure?
29:55 What is the worst moment of pressure you've ever been under?
32:20 What was the actual mantra you used?
34:52 Insight 2
35:07 What motivated you to produce this movement?
37:26 Do you believe that we are better under pressure?
Outro