Pressure Is Not a Privilege
A LinkedIn post recently declared that pressure is a privilege because it shows you exactly where to grow. Kim Keane pushes back because for people working in high-pressure, mission-driven organizations, that kind of advice doesn't inspire. It shames. And it completely misses what pressure actually does to people over time.
Key Takeaways:
"Pressure is a privilege" is shame-based motivation dressed up as inspiration.
Identity-based defaults such as anxious, perfectionist, people-pleaser can't be trained away in a week, or ever fully eliminated.
People in mission-driven organizations are already growing; what they need is help managing the environment creating the pressure.
Pressure doesn't stay at work and it follows people home, eroding trust, empathy, and connection.
You can't train a default without something to replace it with, and you can't do that while still under the weight of the pressure.