What pressure does to performance

Executive function degrades in a predictable sequence.

Each stage compounds the last — and reaches your team.

Working Memory

Mentally crowded. Losing threads between meetings. Struggling to hold complexity.

Cost: Reduced capacity to hold complexity

Cognitive Flexibility

Defaults to habitual responses. Can't adapt when plans change mid-quarter.

Cost: Rigid decisions. Lost adaptability

Tunnel Vision

Fixates on the immediate threat. Misses the bigger picture. Blind spots multiply.

Cost: Poor judgement. Blind spots multiply

Shutdown

Flat, disengaged, on autopilot. Present but not leading. The team feels it first.

Cost: Capacity to lead collapses

Our assessment identifies where you currently sit in this cascade. The earlier we intervene, the faster the system recovers.

Source: Arnsten, A.F.T. (2009). Stress signalling pathways that impair prefrontal cortex structure and function. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 10(6), 410–422.

How we measure

You measure revenue per rep. We measure pressure per leader.

Five touchpoints. 10 minutes total. Every data point ties back to performance output. Measurement framework designed by Alex Cobos, adapted from Kirkpatrick's four levels of training evaluation.

Kirkpatrick Model — the global standard for evaluating leadership development since 1959. We apply L1–L4 to nervous system regulation outcomes.

Reaction

Learning

Behaviour

Performance

Pre-Programme: Pressure Diagnostic — baseline pressure pattern informs technique selection
L1 — Reaction: What shifted. What you'll apply. Leader's own words — session close
L2 — Learning: Brief Resilience Scale + decision confidence. Pre and post session
L3 — Behaviour: Practice integration. Observable shifts in decision-making. +2 weeks
L4 — Performance: Decision quality + time saved. Team-observed changes. +2 weeks
Practitioner Report: Personal written follow-up. Delivered at week 4
Optional Wearable: HRV, sleep quality, stress response. Opt-in. Participant-owned. Private.

If you've read this far, pressure is already affecting your performance.

See where you sit in the cascade — and what it would take to recover capacity.

Book a free diagnostic

For those who want to go deeper

Evidence-based. Not evidence-adjacent.

Built on

Polyvagal theory · HRV biofeedback · Interoceptive research · Allostatic load · Co-regulation

Nervous system & cognition

· Arnsten, A.F.T. (2009). Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 10(6), 410–422
· Thayer et al. (2009, 2012) — HRV and cognitive performance
· McEwen, B.S. (1998). NEJM — allostatic load

Breathing & self-regulation

· Russo et al. (2017) — slow breathing and autonomic function
· Huberman & Balban (2023). Cell Reports — cyclic sighing
· Laborde meta-analysis (2022) — HRV biofeedback

Interoception

· Craig (2002); Critchley et al. (2004)
· Khalsa et al. (2018); Garfinkel et al. (2015)

Co-regulation

· Feldman (2017); Coan et al. (2006)
· Tschacher (2020) — social synchrony