When uncertainty increases, leaders naturally become more risk-averse. Yet today’s environment requires organizations to move more quickly, experiment more frequently and take intelligent risks.
Speed has become a critical driver of success across product development, technology, sales, marketing, operations and digital transformation. Organizations do not simply need economies of scale—they need economies of speed.
JP’s research identifies a measurable gap between the risks people believe they should take and those they actually take. He calls this gap The Last 8%. It appears when people avoid important conversations, delay difficult decisions or fail to pursue experiments that could improve performance.
Audiences will learn:
- Practical tools for managing the brain and leading effectively under pressure
- How to create an environment that encourages intelligent risk-taking
- The cultural barriers that prevent teams from moving quickly
- What high-performing teams do differently to balance speed and control
- How elite performers remain effective amid uncertainty
- How to increase innovation, adaptability and organizational performance
People are facing extraordinary levels of pressure, change and uncertainty. Yet many continue to rely primarily on intelligence, technical knowledge and experience to manage through these challenges.
Those capabilities are no longer enough.
Organizations need people who can remain adaptable, resilient and collaborative, recognize opportunities others overlook and work effectively with colleagues and clients who are also operating under pressure.
Based on a 12,000-person study conducted for the New York Times bestseller Performing Under Pressure, this program provides practical tools developed through JP’s work with Olympic athletes, NFL and NBA teams, Navy SEALs and leading global organizations.
Audiences will learn:
- How to manage the brain to think, lead and perform effectively under pressure
- Tools for becoming more adaptable, resilient and collaborative
- A daily habit that increases focus and helps decrease burnout
- Strategies for helping teams perform during periods of intense pressure
- How to recognize opportunities during change and disruption
The program can also be tailored for sales teams, with an emphasis on using emotional intelligence to manage pressure, strengthen client relationships, collaborate internally and overcome setbacks and uncertainty.
Most people are reasonably effective at communicating the first 92% of what they need to say during a feedback conversation. The challenge comes during the final 8%—the most difficult, emotionally charged part of the message.
When people anticipate the emotional impact their feedback may have, they often soften the message, avoid the most important point or abandon the conversation altogether.
This program gives participants the insight and practical tools needed to manage their emotions and complete the conversations that matter most. JP draws on the science of human behavior, the brain under pressure and the principles of psychological safety to help people deliver feedback in a way others can hear and act upon.
Audiences will learn:
- What the Last 8% is and why it represents an important opportunity for growth
- How the brain responds during high-pressure conversations
- Why people avoid giving the feedback others need
- How to begin a difficult feedback conversation
- How to reduce the anxiety and perfectionism that prevent action
- The essential elements of psychological safety
- How better conversations support learning, innovation and performanc
Organizations need to move quickly, adapt to changing conditions and deliver results. Yet many teams move too slowly when making difficult decisions and avoid the challenging conversations that drive performance.
At the heart of high performance is culture. Most leaders think culture exists primarily at the organizational level, but it is created and experienced most powerfully within individual teams.
Drawing on research involving 72,000 people, JP puts managers and people leaders at the center of building culture. He introduces the Last 8%—the difficult conversations and decisions people often avoid—and shows how these critical moments shape team performance.
Audiences will learn:
- The two pillars of a high-performing culture: High Connection, or psychological safety, and High Courage, the ability to do hard things skillfully
- Emotional intelligence tools for managing Last 8% situations
- How to engage and influence people across distances
- How to create conditions that attract and retain the best talent
For much of their careers, people have been rewarded for what they know and how hard they work. Artificial intelligence can now deliver knowledge and effort faster, more cheaply and at greater scale.
But the real competitive advantage is not found in the work AI can perform. It is found in the human moments AI cannot manage: the difficult judgment call, the uncomfortable conversation, the decision no one wants to own and the need to act confidently amid ambiguity.
As AI creates smaller, faster and more highly leveraged teams, avoided conversations and unresolved tensions become even more consequential. Drawing on nine years of research into courageous, high-performing teams, JP demonstrates that the primary barrier is not capability—it is courage.
Audiences will learn how to:
- Communicate difficult truths without losing the trust of the room
- Lead with both high care and high accountability
- Create a culture where intelligent risk-taking is safe and expected
- Replace avoidance with curiosity and better judgment
- Close the gap between knowing what should be done and taking action
- Create the human conditions required for AI investments to succeed
