By Sylvana Rochet
Capital is tight, markets are jittery, and boards still demand hockey-stick growth. This article shows war-time CEOs how to apply performance-boosting pressure without flooding their companies with toxic stress. Four field-tested habits will help your keep teams sharp, engaged and ready to win.
The CEO’s Balancing Act: Creating Healthy Pressure Without Spreading Toxic Stress
Being a chief executive in 2025 is an extreme-sport version of leadership. Global venture funding fell 38% in 2023 and only crept up 3% in 2024, keeping investors cautious and runway short just when AI-fuelled competition is skyrocketing. Crunchbase News Boards still expect break-neck growth, but the margin for trial-and-error has evaporated.
Strategy, technology and talent still matter, yet what will make or break performance this year is the emotional climate you create. Gallup puts the price of disengagement at US $8.8 trillion (9% of global GDP) while the World Health Organization estimates depression and anxiety drain another US $1 trillion in productivity each year. Conversely, highly engaged teams are 23% more profitable and 18% more productive. Your tone at the top is the fastest way to swing that dial.
Hybrid work adds to the complexity: you seldom see worry etched on a face across a Slack thread, yet emotional contagion still happens. Neuroscience studies show that a leader’s tone of voice alone can raise or lower cortisol in listeners within minutes, priming them for analytical or defensive states. The upshot: if you want sharper strategy meetings, first regulate your own nervous system. Clara Whitlow, a wellbeing specialist from Clarawhitlow.com adds “Doing important meeting remotely increases the risk of being misunderstood. The lack of body language makes the listeners focus solely on the verbal communication, often leading to higher stress levels and the more negative perception of the meeting”.
Below are four take-and-use-today practices that keep pressure productive and protect people from toxic stress.
Takeaway 1: Control the temperature: share facts, not fear
A throw-away “We’re so screwed” after a tough investor call can reach every Slack channel by lunch. When staff sense panic, cognitive bandwidth shifts from problem-solving to exit planning.
Do this instead
- State the current reality. Use numbers, not adjectives.
- Explain the response. What is the company doing, who owns it, by when?
- Link to purpose. Remind people of the “why” behind the hard push.
- Close with commitment. “I’m available for questions at 3 p.m.” keeps rumours offstage.
Need to vent? Treat emotional hygiene as executive maintenance, like cash flow forecasts. Build a personal “board of back-ups”: therapist, coach, mentor and a friend who asks, “What exactly is in your control?”
Takeaway 2: Differentiate stretch from strain
Pressure energises when three conditions exist: a winnable goal, adequate resources and a finite sprint. Stress turns toxic when tasks feel impossible, tools are missing or “crunch time” becomes a lifestyle.
- Stress-test the goal. Would an A-player say it’s possible? If not, cut scope or extend runway.
- Resource check. Do teams have the data, budget and decision rights to win?
- Sprint, recover, repeat. Follow intense pushes with decompression: meeting-free afternoons, breaks encouraged throughout the day, real weekends.
Frame the challenge as a mission, not a threat: “If we hit €10 million ARR by Q4, we secure Series B and put climate-positive tech on every construction site.” Clear stakes transform tension into motivation.
Red-flag dashboard
- Rising sick days or “mental health Fridays”
- Decision cycles slowing > 20%
- Creative ideas drying up in product reviews
- Snappier internal messages
When two or more lights flash amber, convene a reset: ask every team what to stop, start or simplify. You’ll usually discover 20% of work no longer matters.
Takeaway 3: Stop expecting founder-level zeal from salaried staff
Your wealth, reputation and maybe your house are on the line; employees’ risk is their next payslip and LinkedIn headline. Demanding identical intensity fuels resentment, not loyalty.
Swap the mindset
From: “If you cared, you’d stay late.”
To: “If I design work that matters, you’ll bring your best during work hours.”
Practical moves
- Map incentives. Tie team OKRs to skill growth, visibility or autonomy.
- Show progress weekly. A Friday 5-minute “wins recap” reinforces momentum.
- Recognise in context. “Lisa’s API optimisation shaved €40K off our cloud bill – one step toward profitability” beats generic praise.
Done consistently, you unlock discretionary effort without martyrdom – and ownership spreads beyond the founding circle.
Takeaway 4: Watch early warning signs of toxic pressure
Turnover is a lagging indicator. Leading signals appear weeks earlier:
| Early signal | What it looks like | What to do |
| Quiet disengagement | Cameras off, idea drought, multitasking | Shorten meetings, rotate facilitators, equip managers to check in with their team members |
| Throughput drag | Tasks take 30% longer than last quarter | Re-prioritise, add resources, clear blockers in 24hr |
| Blame bursts | “They” replaces “we”; email CC lists grow | Hold a blameless retro, reset norms |
If you spot a pattern, lean on the three Cs:
- Clarity: Who owns what, by when and why it matters.
- Curiosity: “What would make this 20% easier?” / “What should we stop doing?” / “Who has done this brilliantly before?”
- Courage: Make the hard calls (including telling the board a timeline is unrealistic), so teams don’t carry impossible contradictions.
Final thought
Boards reward growth, but markets reward durable growth – and that rests on healthy humans. As you close your laptop tonight, ask: “Did my words today increase focus and belief, or did they add static?” Make tomorrow’s answer a resounding increase and you’ll keep pressure on the right side of stress (and your company on the right side of history) – one calm, confident conversation at a time.
Sylvana Rochet
