When a team is in a high pressure situation, it is common to demand more intensity. To push harder, move faster, and get more aggressive. Most teams in high pressure situations don’t need more intensity, they need structure and support. When a team can’t solve a problem skillfully, they start solving it emotionally. When we use emotions to drive our behaviors, it usually leads to choas. The team starts to lose its identity- not following processes, systems, or rules- just to feel like they are doing something- anything to succeed. That something, rarely leads to success, and more often leads to breakdown.

The Sports Story: Game 4 of Stanley Cup Playoffs

In Game 4 of the playoff series between the Ottawa Senators and the Carolina Hurricanes, we saw exactly what happens when a team’s skill and identity as successful breaks under extreme pressure and emotion.

In the second period with a loss meaning the end of their season, and early playoff exit, Ottawa was mentally drained. They hadn’t held a lead all series, their top “scoring line” (aka-players) were not scoring, and every time they tried to move the puck, they ran into the relentless and disciplined structure of the Hurricanes. They couldn’t figure out a way to get through the defensive system, so they instead, they got frustrated, and decided to break the players instead.

The play started with a clean breakout attempt by Carolina. Instead of using their positions on the ice to stop them, Ottawa players began getting closer to the players, chasing them earlier, hitting harder, finishing checks outside the view of the referee and long after the puck was gone. They were all in the gray area of hockey, and designed for full irritation. Small hooks and late shoves that the referees, in an attempt to “let them play” and not micro-manage the game allowed to slide.

But those unaddressed seemingly minor aggressions allowed the players to keep pushing the line, keep raising the emotional bar, testing limits of what is allowed. Then, during a seemingly usual battle near the goal, the usual, but elevated aggressiveness was there. That split second, that pushing of the boundary, was enough. An Ottawa player again delivered an extra cross-check and this time, the Carolina player pushed back. Suddenly, instead of a two-man scrum, a line of Ottawa players dove in. Not just to defend their teammate but to actively create chaos and to let their emotional behavior control their skills and tactics. A successful team hadn’t felt successful with their level of play, so they would do it with their level of fight.

The game turned into a full-on brawl, the kind that makes you call for your family in the other room, or in my case, my 9 year old son and his two buddies. The kind that ends with a full penalty box for both teams and too many penalties for the official to even list separately. And Unfortunately, also the kind that leaves a player concussed and confused on the ice. Also the kind where you take advantage of what you can’t do on the ice, and sneak in a sucker punch.

Ottawa wanted the chaos on the ice to disrupt the system that Carolina was destroying them with. In that chaos, they let the emotions take over their behavior, instead of letting it fuel their play. It was a second period for the ages, with 11 two- minute penalties issued in that period alone. Every single person on the ice in the big fight got a penalty.

How did they get there? To a fight that involves everyone? In one part because early on, the refs-the leaders on the ice, who hold standards and enforce rules- let the little things go early on.

3 Actionable Insights:

1. Establish radical accountability for your standards

As a leader, your primary job is to bring out the best in others by being clear about standards and enforcing them. By being firm and clear about what is and isn’t acceptable, gives your team has the freedom to be elite. Without accountability, they are in survival mode. Accountability isn’t restrictive, it provides the guardrails that allows for innovation and excellence.

Action: Address minor incidents, rule infractions, or inappropriate behaviors when they are still small

2. When teams can’t solve problems, they try to disrupt them

There is a difference between innovation and desperation. The difference between purposeful disruption and total chaos. When you abandon your tactics, strategies and systems to engage in XX you often deplete your own resources faster than the competition’s. When you transition from execution to just pure aggression, you are letting frustration be disguised as action.

Action: When your current strategy isn’t working, stop and evaluate the system. Where can you pivot based on your values, strengths, and capabilities. Don’t abandon who you are to chase a moment and allow the urgency to replace the strategy.

3. Emotion can either drive performance or destroy it

High pressure environments or high stakes moments naturally produce big emotions. Fear, Joy, Anger, Disgust (Sounds like a Disney movie I know) play in our heads over and over again. Successful leaders and teams are able to use that adrenaline to increase clarity, not to justify behavior. Controlled emotions allow you to channel the energy where it belongs, emotions without control become a liability.

Action: Teach your team how to channel emotion into execution, not let it dictate behavior. Be ok asking this question, “Are we making this decision because it is best, or are we making it because we are frustrated, happy, fearful, etc.?”

The Pep Talk:

“Own the little things. Hold the Standard. Trust your team’s ability to adapt. Use emotions to elevate performance, not control it.”

-Katie Beach

Most leaders treat hard work and fun as inversely related. That having one means sacrificing the other. We assume that if a team is laughing, joking, and just having an absolute blast, than they aren’t giving their best. In the same way, we think that if we want to be elite, than we have to submit to the grind, a lonely and grueling journey.

In reality, finding and having joy in the midst of your grind, isn’t an alternative to hard work, it is actually the result of it.

The Sideline Story: Jess McClain’s Runcation

In the world of elite marathon running, the standard lifestyle of the professionals involves running, fueling, napping in recovery boots, and obsessing over splits. Jess McClain, the top American female finisher at the 2026 Boston Marathon, is proving that the fastest way to the finish line might just be to actually enjoy the ride.

Now, she credits her record-breaking success to what she labeled her “runcation” mentality. Even after a devastating pacer error cost her a national title in Atlanta earlier this year, she didn’t spiral. She felt the frustration, pursued the actions she could control, and while doingthatthen went back to her “other buckets”—her dog rescue work, her husband, and her community. By keeping it fun and maintaining a life that exists in addition to running rather than instead of it, she’s found a gear that the specialists can’t seem to touch.

Earlier in her career, she was all about that hustle and finding glory in the grind. Spending race weekends sitting in dark hotel rooms with her legs in a recovery apparatus and obsessing over every detail of the training that led up to this and what would be at race time. The results she got were injuries, burnout and plateaued results. So she took a break. Pursued a career in marketing and then came back to running as an “amateur” running on her own time and way.

Since returning to the sport with a mission to keep it fun, she has hit her stride; running career-best finishes and times, including this past weekend in Boston. She credits her success to what she labeled her “runcation” mentality. Even after a devastating pacer error cost her a national title in Atlanta earlier this year, she didn’t spiral. She felt the frustration, pursued the actions she could control regarding the race, and while doing that went back to her dog rescue work, her husband, and her community. In building a life that exists in addition to her sport rather than instead of it, she has found that the harder she works, the more fun she has. And the faster she runs.

3 Actionable Insights

1. Fun isn’t just a reward, its part of the process

Most leaders unintentionally create an environment where work feels serious and celebrations come at the end of an outcome, or even at monthly birthdays- if at all. That leads to tension, not excellence. We need to recognize that our best work comes when everyone is engaged, relaxed, and able to be themselves.

Action: Bring the enjoyment alongside the work, not after it is done. Fun and Intensity aren’t mutually exclusive. Put on some music, add some humor, laugh!

2. Control the controllable’s in a setback

After the egregious pacer error in Atlanta, McClain didn't spiral out of control in part because she controlled the controllable’s and let the rest go. Leaders often get bogged down by market shifts or corporate pivots they can’t change, which sucks the fun out of the work and breeds resentment, and takes up valuable energy.

Action: After a project failure, set back, or missed goal, give the team 10 minutes to voice frustrations, feel the feelings, and then shift the focus to what is actually in your control, and the actions you will take.

3. Leading doesn’t always mean you push, sometimes you need to pull

When teams underperform, most leaders instinctively hold tighter and ask for more. More accountability, more process, more pressure, more control. They double down on the very conditions that are already wearing people down. Adding more pressure on a drained team doesn’t produce better results. Sometimes the most strategic move a leader can make is to loosen the grip, reconnect people to the meaning behind the work, and create some space

Action: The next time your team hits a wall, resist the instinct to add more pressure. Instead, get a pulse on the energy and joy levels on your team, maybe a break is just what they need.

Final Thoughts

We often think that if we work more, hustle and grind, we will achieve more. If you truly want an elite team for the long term, its not feasible that they sacrifice their entire lives for the work. The teams that can find the joy in the performance are the ones that will get the best results, and reach their own personal best.

Having high standards doesn’t push people away, it pulls the right people in. Most leaders when trying to build teams, will lower their expectations out of fear. Fear of losing employees, fear of being seen as too demanding, or usually, fear of the uncomfortable conversations that holding high standards require. Which means in turn, they lower the bar. They tolerate mediocrity. And then they wonder why their team isn’t engaged.

The highest performing teams are never held together by perks alone. They are elite because they have a shared belief that what they’re doing matters and that they are the perfect people, in the perfect place to achieve it. By clearly establishing and maintaining high standards you are telling your team that you believe they are capable of something great, and you are not going to insult them by pretending otherwise.

High standards are a sign of respect. Leaders who clearly define what excellence looks like and hold each team member to it, are almost always the ones people choose to follow. Not in spite of the high standards, but because of them.

The Sideline Story: The Magic of the Masters

The first weekend in April is a special one for all sports fans. The azaleas are in bloom. Amen Corner is waiting. Egg Salad and Pimento Cheese sandwiches are waiting. Its Masters Weekend.

Masters weekend was this past weekend, just in case you missed it. That quest for the green jacket brings out all level of golf fans (including myself). It is part of the magic of Masters Weekend. Where renting out your house for this week pays for entire year mortgages. Where having tickets is the envy of all the ticketless. There are rules, so many rules. Traditions, so many traditions. So much hype, so much fun. Families. Celebrities.

Oh yeah- and then there is the game itself.

Rookies often struggle at the Masters. Not for lack of skill, but because this course in Augusta, Georgia is different. Its unforgiving. It is designed for difficulty. The nuances of the course are subtle. Experience matters, and its a small group that is able to get it.

Veterans speak about the course as though it is a living breathing entity. Almost as if it is another opponent. They talk about it with a kind of reverence and awe. They understand that this course doesn’t just test your golf game, it tests your patience, your discipline, your decision-making, and even your confidence on the course.

And every year, despite all the preparation and history, despite the favors, handicaps and odds, the same truth holds: anything can happen. A leader can collapse. An underdog can rise. The course, along with the pressure, is the great equalizer.

And that’s the magic of the Masters. The standards are high, if you think getting a ticket to attend is hard, you should think about how hard it is to get one of the 90 invitations to play. Your golf pedigree doesn’t protect you. Momentum doesn’t guarantee you a win. Anything can happen and everyone who has ever stood on that first tee knows it.

Yet- we all tune in. Because watching someone do something HARD is exciting, its memorable. This is the best of the best and for one special weekend, they got invited to do something exclusive. We cheer for the good shots and groan when someone hits a tree. We know that everything on this weekend is exceptional, from the greens, to the merch, to the snacks, to the clubhouse. Its high level and unapologetic. You have to be the best of the best to win, and doing so is an exclusive club.

Three Actionable Takeaways

1. The Standard you set is the Culture you get

People are wired to match their effort to what’s expected of them, not what’s possible. If the bar is unclear or inconsistent, performance drifts. When standards are visible and upheld, they create alignment. When standards are lowered and not maintained, you lose those that want to achieve better, not the ones that are

Action: Write down your top 3 standards for critical roles and share them with your team. You can being by immediately addressing an area where the standard isn’t being met.

2. Not Everyone Will Fit and That’s the Point

A strong culture isn’t built by accommodating everyone. It is built by attracting and keeping the right people in the right roles for your team or organization. When standards are high, the individuals that can uphold them will lean in while the ones that won’t will opt out. That selectivity strengthens the team, builds mutual respect, and raises the level of work (and fun!) for everyone involved.

Action: Identify one area where you’ve been tolerating someone or something that is good enough and address it directly. You can do this by establishing the new standard and coaching the person up, or by making a change.

3. Challenge Creates Connection

Shared struggle unites people faster than shared comfort. When employees work together toward something difficult, they develop a mutual respect and pride. The process of pursuing a stretch goal, working on a hellacious project, or just pulling an all nighter together- builds bonds far stronger than easy wins ever could.

Action: Introduce a tough assignment or project that requires collaboration either within or across teams. Set clear milestones, celebrate progress publicly, and watch the fun begin! Don’t forget to take time after to reflect on lessons learned to deepen trust and encourage continuous improvement.

Final Thoughts:

High standards aren't a leadership method reserved for the elite. They are the foundation of every great team, every great culture, and every great result. The leaders and organizations we remember aren't the ones who had it easy. They're the ones who made it exciting, who made it matter, who made you feel like they climbed up a really big hill. Whether you're building a business, leading a team, or simply deciding what kind of leader you want to be, you have to start with what your standards are. Make it clear, hold it consistently, and do it with respect for the people you're asking it from. The right people won't just rise up to meet them. They'll thank you for it.

In many organizations, it feels like the calendar is the primary driver of career progression. Historically “putting in your time” was the ultimate justification for advancement and salary increases.

We are in the middle of a shift in this. For many reasons, the modern business environment seniority is no longer the best indicator for competence. In order to achieve excellence, we need to shift from solely tenure based cultures to include performance metrics as well. A tenure-based system rewards survival; a performance-driven culture rewards adaptability, innovation, and continuous improvement. When you reward someone simply for being in the building for ten years, regardless of performance, you inadvertently create a culture that doesn’t create the need for high achievement.

The Sideline Story: The NFL’s Official Stalemate

The NFL and the NFL Referees Association (NFLRA) are currently in what looks like an impasse over their Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), which expires on May 31, 2026. While the headlines focus on the gap in compensation, the league is offering ~6.5% annual raises while the union demands over 10%, the real battle is over accountability.

The NFL side is pushing for stricter performance measures. They want the ability to sideline officials who miss calls, or make bad ones, regardless of how many Super Bowls they’ve worked. The union, naturally, leans on the protection and reward, of tenure.

The league is already prepared to train replacement officials beginning May 1. They remember the “Fail Mary” and the chaos of the 2012 referee lockout, and they are determined not to let a lack of talent pipeline hold their $20 billion product hostage, or create the injury and chaos that ensued in 2012.

The NFLRA, the Officials side, is stuck on a few items, including comp, but also on the resistance for some officials to be full time, as well as their challenge that the higher performers, regardless of tenure, get rewarded by being able to move to the “big games.”

3 Actionable Takeaways

1. Your Succession Plan is your Insurance Policy. Create one.

Most businesses treat succession planning as an HR exercise, or a nice thing to have. In reality, it is your primary risk-mitigation tool. If the departure of one person, or small group of people, will cripple your operations, you don’t have a stable business.

It is imperative that you really look at every role and establish where the occupant’s sudden departure would halt production or decision-making. Make sure you cross-train for that.

Action: For every critical role, identify someone who could be ready enough now, and who could be ready in the 12-18 months. If the immediate slot is empty, your primary objective is talent acquisition or some intensive professional development.

2. Operationalize Performance, Don’t just Talk about it.

Most companies say they value performance but then aren’t clear on what the standards of performance are, much less have ways to measure and reward it. When the standard for performance is subjective, employees establish their own, and typically revert to the loudest voice, or those that have been there the longest. To build a true high performance culture, you must align compensation, promotion, and visibility to clear, established and measurable results.

Action: Create a Clear standards of performance for all positions and roles. Clearly communicate what high-performance looks like. When the criteria is public, the path to advancement becomes a playbook for excellence and achievement rather than a mystery of longevity.

3. Design systems that ensure resilience and scalability.

Institutional knowledge often becomes a weapon used by long-tenured employees to ensure job security. This creates businesses that feel fragile and virtually impossible to scale. You must build a structure where capability is built into the framework of the company and documented outside the minds of a few.

Action: Implement a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) Audit. Ensure that every core process is documented and that cross-functional training is a mandatory part of your quarterly goals. We need to make sure that we value what the personnel bring, but are committed to the foundation of the process.

Final Thought

The NFL is willing to risk a lockout to ensure they have the right to demand excellence from their officials. In most businesses, we aren’t forced to have these difficult conversations, we have to chose to have them. It is the only way to move our organizations from a seniority based culture to one of excellence.

Performance only counts when it’s profitable and public. If it isn’t visible, it isn’t valuable. If you’re truly elite, the results should be obvious.

The Mindset shift:

In reality, elite performance is often a long, quiet plateau of consistency. It’s showing up with the same standard of work and delivery every day. It’s building capacity in the unseen moments, so when the moment demands it, you’re ready to perform. That’s invisible readiness. That’s what separates the elite. Not a single outcome, but the steady work behind the scenes that got you there.

3 Actionable Tactics:

• Build people before you need them

Develop your team’s capability ahead of the demand. Coach skills, decision-making, and people leadership before it is required. It is a lot harder to create confidence or competence in a crisis. There is no “fake it until you make it”. Skills were built before they needed to fake it. Strong teams look are able to look calm under pressure because the work was done to prepare.

• Train beyond the immediate demand

Don’t just prepare for today’s responsibilities, prepare for tomorrow’s opportunities. Invest in building skills and systems that aren’t immediately required but will matter when the moment presents itself. It’s easy to coast when you know what’s expected. It is elite to prepare for what you don’t even see coming yet.

• Make invisible work visible

Publicly value preparation, support roles, and quiet excellence. When leaders name it, when they praise it, the team learns what truly matters. Make sure that all members feel valued for their role. No one should feel they only matter once they’re in the spotlight.

The Sideline Story:

We often think of “breakout moments” as sudden bursts of luck. But if you watched the Super Bowl this past Sunday, you saw that a breakout is actually just the moment Invisible Readiness finally meets the light.

Consider Kenneth Walker III.

Coming off an injury-plagued 2024 season, Walker returned to the field in 2025 as a talented back. And for 17 straight games, he performed well in a role that very few fans noticed. He was the “engine” doing the grueling work of grinding out 1,027 yards between the twenties. That was his job. His role on the team. When the team was close to goal in the red zone, it was his teammate Zach Charbonnet’s time to shine. That led to Charbonnet having 12 regular season touchdowns, along with the name recognition that scoring brings.

To the world, Walker was having a quiet year. Very few football fans knew his name. The Walker jersey wasn’t selling out in Lumen Stadium on Sunday. But Walker wasn’t competing for stats-or for jersey sales-he was competing to win games. He cared most about playing up to the team standard, not to the scoreboard. He was consistent. Worked hard, showed up, did his job. He stayed sharp while in the shadows, and by all accounts, continued to be the ultimate teammate.

Then, his role shifted. And the moment demanded more.

In the first round of the playoffs, when the Seahawks’ Charbonnet went down with a season-ending injury, there was no panic. Walker didn’t have to get ready. He had been training for 17 weeks and now, he just had to adjust his role and deliver. And deliver he did.

In the 3 post-season games, he averaged 21 carries per game, compared to 13 in the regular season. He scored four touchdowns in route to an NFC Championship and Super Bowl birth.

Then came the Super Bowl. On Sunday, Walker led the Seahawks to a Super Bowl win. He racked up 135 yards on 27 carries, the most yards in a title game in nearly 30 years. He became a Super Bowl MVP. Walker became a household name. His jerseys are currently featured as a top-selling merchandise on Fanatics and the official NFL Shop. The irony to me? True to form, he did all that without scoring a touchdown.

He didn’t succeed because he finally got his turn. It was because he was ready. He was humble enough to embrace the “engine” role in October so that he had the capacity to be the MVP in February. He proved that when over 100 million people are watching, you don’t need to be someone different. You just need to be the person who did the work when no one was looking.

Sent every Tuesday to help you build a better team.

A little backstory on how I got here: I am a former athletic trainer who, through a series of NASCAR-style left turns, now works as a speaker, facilitator, coach, and business owner.

Last year, I decided to spend the week after the “Big Game” (IYKYK- I’m not trying to get sued by the NFL) breaking down the leadership and team lessons I saw on the field. My gift since leaving athletic training has been the ability to make connections through sports that allow for leadership and team building to be fun. Relatable. Tactical. Actionable. Uncomfortable at times, but always a little fun.

My goal is to use the lessons from sports to connect with others. And not just to sports fans, but to everyone who wants to be better. A better leader. A better teammate. A better workplace. Even just to have fun at work again.

Those 5 lessons from that game almost a year ago impacted so many people. It also gave me the boost of confidence I needed to recognize that my view from the sideline watching teams and athletes for so many years created a specific eye for “The Moment.”

• Moments that change a game.

• Moments that demonstrate the rise or fall of a team.

• Human moments. Relationship moments.

• The moments that teach lessons far beyond the field.

Now, after about a year delay, I am bringing those lessons and moments to you every week.

Full disclosure: It won’t be perfect. You will probably find at least one spelling or grammar error (consider it an Easter egg). But it will be me. And how fitting that I get to kick it off this week. The week of this year’s “Big Game.”

The Tuesday Promise

I don’t promise to change your life. That isn’t the goal. The goal is that when this hits your inbox on Tuesday, you actually want to open it.

Here is what you can expect every week:

• The 5-Minute Rule: It will always be a quick read.

• The 1-3-1 Framework: One Mindset Shift, three Actionable Tactics, and one Sideline Story from the world of sports to drive the point home.

• Some fun: You will laugh. Maybe not a full LOL, but at least a smirk.

• The “Aha” Moment: Enough insight to make you think, “Hmm... I never thought about it that way.”

I look forward to this journey of growth for you and your team. It certainly will be one for me, too.