Better Under Pressure

About Better Under Pressure

In a world that’s becoming more complex and uncertain, learning how to channel pressure in a healthy way to turn it into a force for good is vital. How we deal with pressure in our personal and professional lives will impact the outcome of anything we do. In this podcast, Sara Milne Rowe, author of The SHED Method and founder of Coaching Impact, explores how we experience pressure both in our personal and professional lives. Leaders from all walks of life join her to discuss what pressure means to them, how they deal with it, what they do because of it and how they lead others through it.’

Publisher

Sara Milne Rowe

Category

education

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

21 Feb 2022

Latest episode

1 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

2 of 69 episodes have a transcript.

1. 

   1 Oct 2026

   Ed Hoffman - What 33 Years at NASA Taught Me About Leading Under Pressure

   "I feel better under pressure when I feel that I'm prepared, that I'm good at what I'm doing, that if I'm giving a presentation in front of the NASA administrator, I'm prepared. I'm ready to go, I'm not playing games."So says Dr Ed Hoffman, CEO of Knowledge Strategies, LLC, and NASA's former Chief Knowledge Officer. Of course, there's a story behind how Ed developed this piece of wisdom, which has stayed with him throughout his career. He shares it in this episode of Better Under Pressure (let's just say it involves him attending a party, as an intern, at the home of NASA's deputy administrator).In fact, Ed and I talk at length about the power of storytelling as a tool for knowledge exchange, especially inside an organisation. "We have a chance to be our own gurus… We have our own wisdom," he points out. I agree.I loved my conversation with Ed, and there is so much more to hear. I hope you enjoy the episode.Each month, the Better Under Pressure podcast explores how leaders really experience pressure, respond to it, and lead others through it for positive outcomes.Listen and watch: YouTube | Apple | SpotifySave, share and follow me, Sara Milne Rowe, for more on leadership, performance and impact for good.

2. 

   31 Jul 2026

   Paula Fry - The Power of Rituals in the World of Finance

   "What I'm hearing in this, Paula, is you've always had some way of switching off the day." Try to track down Paula Fry, Global Head of Fixed Income and FX Trading Liquidity at Bloomberg LP, and she is as likely to be in New York, Singapore, Dubai or Paris as she is in her London office. A 30-year veteran of the financial sector (with a sabbatical running her own vintage fashion business along the way), Paula has built a deep skill in handling pressure. Case in point: her ability to switch off at the end of the day. In many of the conversations I have with clients, that is one of the hardest things for them to do. Paula shares two rituals that travel the world with her. "It's like taking a bit of home away with me," she says. It makes sense. As I've said before, rituals, however small, are a way of staying in devotion to what matters to you, and harnessing your energy in a way that works for you, wherever you are in the world. There's a lot more wisdom and advice in our conversation, including Paula’s passion for what I'd describe as her legacy: supporting women to talk openly about perimenopause and menopause in the workplace. Legacy releases the pressure of uncertainty by grounding you in your personal purpose. It's a way to explore the next phase of impact, allowing leaders to expand, try new things, and unleash bold ideas. This shone out of Paula throughout our conversation and I was left feeling she has more to cause! I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did. Each month, Better Under Pressure explores how leaders really experience pressure, respond to it, and lead others through it, for positive impact. Save, share, and follow me, Sara Milne Rowe, for more on leadership, performance and impact for good.

3. 

   28 May 2026

   Sara Milne Rowe on Leadership: Spirit, Discipline and the Moment That Changed Everything

   It's role reversal time at Better Under Pressure. This month, leadership coach Nicky Brown puts me in the hot seat, asking me what I've learnt from my 60+ conversations with leaders around the world on the Better Under Pressure podcast, and from two decades of coaching at Coaching Impact. This conversation gave me the time and the context to reflect on what I see and hear when I'm with leaders, and to explore how pressure shows up in our lives — the positives and the negatives, and what people do when they're deep in it. Over 50 minutes, we got into:- Why people interpret pressure differently, and why that matters for teams- Why, for me, pressure is an action-oriented energy- The role of Spirit and Discipline in managing stress- Short-term vs. long-term pressure, and why the long-term becomes toxic without the tools to manage it- The difference between performance and a performative act- My own pressure point: a love of control. (Yes, I'm outing myself!) Over the years, a lot of people have asked me for more of my take on it all, and Nicky gave me the chance, so thank you. Each month, Better Under Pressure explores how leaders really experience pressure, respond to it, and lead others through it — for positive outcomes.

Inside a recent episode

#53 - Rupal Patel - Be Willing To Be Surprised?

Published 18 Oct 2024 · Transcript excerpt

[…] Yeah. So, yeah, that's interesting. I think for me, it was a couple of things. It was one just having some basic confidence in my abilities, right? You know, I know that if nothing else, I will always try and I will always learn. So those two things in combination just always give me even now when I'm constantly doing things that terrify me, right? Like I've done hard things out that I've never been able to do before. So it's one just remembering that, but this other thing of like just being willing to learn and having the humility, I think that's something else that I definitely have recognized that I have the humility to take on constructive feedback. […]

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

YouTube views

7,891

Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

5 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

10 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 54 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

48

Social presence

0

YouTube

74

Engagement

77

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Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

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