Pressure is something that people may tend to resist. It can make a person uncomfortable. It can push one into an environment that contains a heightened level of stress. It often involves a confrontation of some sort that forces a decision or a certain course of action within a defined time. There are lessons in applying and handling pressure in sports and efforts to change public policy that can be garnered and transferred to other areas like higher education teaching, learning, research, and service.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt is known for saying, “Okay, you’ve convinced me. Now get out there and bring pressure on me.” Roosevelt was affirmatively welcoming the pressure that was ultimately going to be needed to bring about necessary change. He was opening his arms to pressure. The key to operating well under pressure is to embrace it and not resist it; to run towards it and not away from it. If used the right way, pressure can be a blessing and not a burden. Exposure to pressure builds up one’s tolerance to operate with excellence under adverse circumstances.
The current buildup of pressure on the government in Cuba is what protestors have brought upon their ruling regime and what their allies in the United States are trying to sustain. They are attempting to exert pressure on any forces who may be able to impact the existing arrangement that has marginalized people in Cuba for decades. Their aim is to ultimately put so much pressure on the status quo in Cuba that the current course of action is untenable. The Cuban protestors have indicated a desire to not be confined to the status quo.
Pressure is often accompanied by a sense of urgency. The urgency is what makes the status quo unacceptable and what forces action. Crises, be they intentional or unintentional, bring different forms of pressure with them. There is both individual and societal pressure that people, communities, states, and nations feel. Pressure can cause people or entities to take action that they would not have taken or were opposed to, and it can cause people to act on things that they wanted to do or at least were not in opposition to sooner.
Pressure is also one of the key elements that is needed to produce winning sports teams and standout athletes on a consistent basis. It has been applied to achieve athletic excellence for generations and the same principles can be applied to other areas. One example is college and university sports coaches who excel at a high level. They are amongst those who are the most vested in the development and maximization of the ability of their student-athletes. They have literally “bet the house” on it. Their livelihood directly depends on the performance of their players.
One take away from this that is transferrable to other areas is that there often must be some level of personal investment or something personal on the line for people to maximize anything. People can deal with and even embrace an increased level of pressure if they feel that the payoff is worth it. The amount of pressure and payoff must be raised at an equivalent level for people to stay optimally engaged in their chosen profession over the long haul.
This is one of the factors that has prompted many coaches to turn over almost every stone they can and look for different strategies to develop the talent of individual players, devise a multitude of plays for the team to work together to overcome opposing schemes, and look at every detail they can that can potentially impact whether their team wins or loses.
