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Dean Leak on navigating high-pressure environments

29.07.2025  –  Articles

In this episode of On The Line, Alice sits down with high-performance coach Dean Leak, who has worked with Olympic athletes, C-suite executive teams and special forces. Together, they explore the lesser-known traits that underpin sustainable high performance: communication, belonging, clarity, and the ability to handle conflict well.

Dean shares actionable tools for navigating high-pressure environments, creating space for disagreement, and building trust within teams. This isn’t about being louder or tougher, it’s about being more intentional.

As Dean puts it: “High performance is ambition times clarity minus distraction.”

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Key topics covered

  • The myth of the flawless high performer: “Even Rod Stewart said Glastonbury was the most nerve-wracking performance of his life.”
  • Why belonging drives performance: “We don’t often talk about oxytocin when we talk about high performance. But it’s belonging that lets people thrive under pressure.”
  • How to handle conflict with skill: “Every team is dysfunctional. The difference is whether you avoid conflict, escalate it or use it to refine better ideas.”
  • The three pillars of high-performing cultures: Trust, clarity, agency.

“People crave clarity. When there’s a lack of it, they fill the gap with stories, judgments, cynicism.”

Tools for better conversations

  • The two-minute mental warm-up
  • Using “tell me more” to open people up
  • Framing disagreement as healthy and necessary

“Before a difficult conversation, pause. Ask: What do I want the outcome to be? How do I want to show up?”

Practical takeaways

  • Pause before conflict. Prepare your mindset and define your goal.
  • Build trust through curiosity, not control. (“Tell me more.”)
  • Lead with belonging: make people feel seen and heard.
  • Don’t fear disagreement, frame it. “Would you mind if I challenged that perspective?”
  • Reflect regularly on team dynamics, not just deliverables.

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