Yesterday, I had one of those moments.
Everything was set.
I was ready to begin a training session.
And then…
My PowerPoint wouldn’t work.
Not a quick fix.
Not something I could smooth over.
Just… not working.
I’ll be honest.
For a moment, I felt it.
That internal rush:
- my body tightened
- my thinking got scattered
- and the part of my brain I rely on most… felt just out of reach
And what struck me was this:
It wasn’t that I didn’t know what to do.
It was in that moment… I couldn’t access what I knew.
My brain had gotten a little… too hot.
Sound familiar?
Because here’s what I see happening more and more right now.
People are under pressure.
- work demands are high
- distractions are constant
- conversations feel more charged
- and even the broader environment around us feels intense
And when that happens…
Our ability to access our best thinking gets compromised. (Especially if your sleep is compromised the night before.)
This is especially important for leaders.
Because it’s not just about:
- knowing what to say
- knowing how to lead
- knowing how to handle a situation
The real question is:
Can you access your best thinking when your brain gets a little… too hot?
Because that’s when it matters most.
- when something goes wrong
- when a customer is frustrated
- when you’re tired or stretched
Those are the real Moments of Truth. (and guess what I was teaching? – Yep, just that.)
Here’s the part I want you to know.
My slides didn’t come up.
But I stayed in the room.
I told the truth about what was happening.
I connected.
I kept going.
And at the end of the session, someone shared their biggest takeaway:
“It’s not a knowledge problem… it’s a state problem.”
That was the very point I had made at the beginning.
Not the slides.
Not the structure.
The moment.
So here’s a question for you:
What happens to your thinking when the pressure rises?
And even more importantly:
What helps you come back online?
Because leadership isn’t tested when everything is working.
It’s revealed when it’s not.
If this feels familiar, you’re not alone.
And you don’t have to be perfect.
You just have to find your way back to presence.
With humility,
JoAnna
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