Why your reaction to pressure might be your biggest leadership challenge

In this Leadership Unscripted episode of Unleash Your Impact, Unlock Others, Rich and Dave return to a key leadership truth: stress isn’t just what happens to you, it’s about how you relate and respond to what happens.

Building on their previous conversation about the performance equation, they go deeper into the inner game of stress, exploring how your internal stories, cognitive filters, and unhelpful thinking habits can amplify pressure and create interference.

This isn’t a conversation about eliminating stress, it’s about learning to reframe, regulate, and respond with awareness. You’ll hear real-world stories, practical reframing tools, and reference to Zentano’s own Mind Management Model, which helps leaders move from HOT HEAD reactivity to COOL HEAD intentionality.

You’ll learn:

• The difference between distress, eustress, and hypostress
• Why some stress is healthy, and why under-stimulation can be just as damaging
• How internal beliefs and narratives (like perfectionism or catastrophizing) fuel unnecessary stress
• How team and organisational culture can unintentionally amplify stress
• Practical strategies like the Three Lenses can help leaders reframe in the moment
• Why building resilience starts with being comfortable with discomfort

🎯 Whether you're navigating a tough conversation, leading under pressure, or just feeling overwhelmed, this episode will help you regain perspective and reconnect with your leadership centre.

P = P – I. It’s simple. But it might just change how you lead.

In this Leadership Unscripted episode of Unleash Your Impact, Unlock Others, Rich and Dave explore a deceptively simple but powerful idea from Timothy Gallwey, author of The Inner Game of Tennis:

Performance = Potential – Interference

From elite sport to everyday leadership, this model holds up as a grounded and practical way to understand what gets in the way of people, teams, and organisations performing at their optimal best.

You’ll hear real-life examples from coaching, leadership, and personal experience, including how mindset, culture, communication, and childhood wiring can all become unseen interferences. Rich and Dave also share how Zentano use this model in leadership development, coaching programmes, and mindset training.

🎧 You’ll learn:

• What “interference” looks like at individual, team, and organisational levels
• How to coach others, and yourself, using the performance equation
• Why performance focused conversations often fail to address the real issue
• How to unlock your leadership voice through mindset management
• How culture and systems can sabotage even the most capable people

🎯 Practical, honest and accessible, Dave & Rich help translate the performance equation into leadership action.

In this Voices of Leadership episode of Unleash Your Impact, Unlock Others, Dave talks to Becky Brannigan, Head of Sport at Warwickshire College Group, about the powerful role sport plays in developing leadership skills in young people, long before they enter the workplace.

Becky shares the vision behind the new WCG Sports Academy, launching in 2025 at Pershore College, offering a pathway for students to combine elite sport and academic ambition, whether their passion is football, rugby, tennis, netball or even eSports.

But this isn’t just about physical development. It’s about confidence, communication, emotional intelligence, and learning how to perform under pressure. Becky explains how students are learning to coach, mentor, collaborate, lead teams, and even design and deliver community sports sessions, developing well-rounded, employable young leaders in the process.

Not every student will turn pro. But every student can develop the skills to thrive in adult life, and sport gives us a powerful platform to make that happen.

🎧 Listen in to hear how WCG is building a bold, integrated model for leadership and life and why the courts and playing fields might be the best leadership classrooms we’ve got.

📌 Key Topics Covered:

• Leadership development through sport and competition
• Confidence, communication and resilience as key outcomes
• The role of elite and grassroots sport in inclusive education
• Mentoring, emotional intelligence and role modelling
• Collaboration with clubs like Pershore Tennis and local football academies
• Supporting both curriculum and personal growth
• How sport is bridging the leadership readiness gap in young people