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.

Why slow is smooth, and smooth is fast.

"I love to work at pace. I talk at pace. I am all like go, go, go," says @Caroline Frankum, the former Global CEO of Kantar's Profiles division, "but sometimes you really need to slow down to go faster – and in times of pressure, slowing down the process is really important."

"Pressure is always going to be there. It is really about how you deal with it in a structured way," she adds, "and that sometimes means pausing – which is the thing I had to learn."

Caroline's approach to pressure has been shaped by personal experience (more on that in our conversation) and senior leadership roles at Kantar, Hall & Partners, the Mirror Group, ITV, UKTV, Disney and Sky.

"You have to find the thing that works for you to get your mind into a calmer state. Then you are in a place where you can make a confident decision. Until you get there, you will react rather than respond."

I loved talking to Caroline, she really is a powerhouse and there is a lot more to our conversation. Listen here.

Each month the Better Under Pressure podcast explores how leaders really experience pressure, respond to it and lead others through it for positive outcomes.

Please save, share and follow me, Sara Milne Rowe, for more on leadership, performance and impact for good.

"As long as my values system and my integrity are reconciled at the end of each day, I'm OK."

So says the extraordinary Dr Bijna Kotak Dasani MBE, investment banker, entrepreneur, investor and venture capitalist, in conversation with me on my Better Under Pressure podcast.

Bijna has appeared in many top 50 and top 100 lists, from the World's Top 100 Women Executives to Top 50 Women to Watch. In 2025, she was named Venture Capitalist of the Year in India. Yet she sees awards differently from most: "It is nice to be appreciated, but it is a bigger responsibility to honour that."

Throughout her career, Bijna has focused on her personal impact and what she can contribute to make a better world, and she does it her way: "I am very clear on who I am, what I represent, and what works for me and what doesn't."

For me, this conversation is about clarity, ownership, accountability, and how to achieve it. I hope you enjoy.

Follow Dr Bijna on:

- LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/bijna

- Insta: https://www.instagram.com/thedrbijna

- X: https://x.com/drbijna