PRESSURE-READY LAB · A SIX-WEEK LIVE GROUP PROGRAM
Shift from reactive to ready.
The moments that shape how you're seen as a leader are the ones where pressure is highest. Be at your best in them.
You already know how to lead. This six-week live group program, informed by neuroscience, helps you use what you know when the meeting gets tense, the stakes go up and everyone's watching.
Thursdays, Dec 3-Jan 21
No sessions 12/24 or 12/31 over holidays.
FOUNDING COHORT
Virtually · 6:30-8:00 pm CT
Your employer may cover it. Use the pre-approval letter.
Eligible for PDUs toward Project Management Institute's CAPM and PMP certifications.
You know what to do. So why does it keep going the same way?
You know better. In the moment, it doesn't seem to matter.
THURSDAY
The project you delegated on Monday is back on your desk.
10:05 AM
You were sure of the recommendation. You still opened with "this might be a dumb question, but..."
DINNER
The meeting ended at 2:00. You were still carrying her stress at dinner.
THE DRIVE HOME
You thought of exactly the right thing to say.
Nobody judges your leadership on a quiet Tuesday.
They judge it when the plan falls apart, the conversation gets hard and the call can't wait. That's exactly when your default takes over.
So they don't see your best thinking.
They see your reaction.
MISSING IN ACTION
It's not you. It's how pressure works.
Under pressure, your brain narrow its focus and your body reacts before your judgment catches up. You reach for the response you've rehearsed for year, the one that got you here. That's not a character flaw, and it's not a skill gap.
Your skills aren't missing. They're missing in action.
And with the right kind of practice, that response can change. That practice is what the Lab is for.
Everyone has a default under pressure. Which one is yours?
These aren’t personality types or flaws. They’re Pressure Patterns: default responses that once helped you succeed, and now quietly cost you time, credibility and energy.
You take work back, because doing it yourself feels faster.
OVERDRIVE
You know which conversation to have, and move it to next week again.
PARALYSIS
You overprepare, then check with one more person anyway.
VIGILANCE
You hit a wall, go quiet, and do the minimum on work you'd normally give your best.
DEPLETION
You say yes, or soften the standard, so no one is disappointed.
APPROVAL
Recognize more than one? Most women do. In Week 1, the Pressure-Ready Assessment shows you which ones show up most for you, so you can spot them sooner and create the space to choose how you respond.
What it looks like when you're ready
"I make better decisions faster, and stop relitigating them."
"I say my recommendation once, clearly, and it lands."
"I hold a standard or a deadline without overexplaining."
"I'm the steady one when the room gets tense."
Situations that used to cost you a day start costing you an hour.
"I think strategically in the room, not on the drive home."
"I delegate it, and it stays delegated."
"I get my strategic thinking time back."
"I get more done that matters, in the same hours."
WHY I BUILT THIS
I knew what to do. Under pressure, I didn't do it.
For years I was the one who got things done. I was capable, dependable and fast, and when the pressure rose, I got reactive. I took things over, rushed decisions and carried everyone's urgency as my own. I was noticed, just not for my leadership.
What changed wasn't learning more about leadership. I already knew plenty. It was understanding what pressure does to the brain and body, learning to get steady enough to choose, and practicing a different response in real situations until it held.
I still lead corporate teams today, so this isn't theory for me. It's what I practice every week. The Lab is the practice I wish I'd had years earlier.
Vicky Cleary
Corporate leader and leadership capacity coach. 20 years leading teams under pressure. Speaker, DisruptHR Wichita 2026: "Developing a Pressure-Ready Workforce."
Six weeks.
Real pressure moments. Practice that holds.
Most training never leaves the room. This happens in your real week. You practice on the pressure moments you’re already facing, so the change shows up where it counts, not just in a session. Live coaching and a group of women who get it keep you going between sessions.
WEEK 1
Name your pressure moments
The situations that keep costing you, and your default under pressure.
WEEK 2
See your pattern
What triggers it, and what it's been protecting.
WEEK 3
Catch it sooner
Notice the early signals before the default takes over.
WEEK 4
Create room to choose
Practical ways to get steady and clear in the moment.
WEEK 5
Respond at full strength
Practice the new response, and the skill behind it, in real situations.
WEEK 6
Make it stick
Review what's changed and build your 30-day plan.
Every Wednesday One 90-minute live session Real situations to practice on
A short reflection before next week Every session recorded
Most of the women you work with feel it too. Almost none of them say so.
The Lab is a small group of capable, ambitious women talking plainly about pressure in their work and their lives. You choose how much you share. It's coaching, not therapy, and it's honest about limits: when a situation needs a clearer agreement, a different system or a conversation about workload, we'll name that too.
A room where you can be honest about pressure
This is for you if...
You have real responsibility for people, projects, decisions or outcomes.
You want something important next: a promotion, a bigger scope, or leading well where you are.
You know what you should do, and under pressure you keep falling back into the same response.
You're ready to look honestly at how you operate when the stakes rise.
This isn't for you if...
You're looking for business strategy frameworks, execution models or organizational consulting.
You want quick tips without practicing anything between sessions.
You're looking for therapy or treatment.
You expect a group program, on its own, to fix an unreasonable workload or a structural problem at work.
THE FOUNDING COHORT
Be one of the first through the new Lab.
Why now? December brings year-end deadlines, budgets, reviews and a full calendar at home. That's not a reason to wait. It's the best practice ground you'll get all year. Finish 2026 steadier than you started it, and walk into 2027 ready.
Bundle with my Promotion Pending workshop.
Start with the Promotion Pending evening workshop on Nov 18 in Wichita, then bring your 90-day plan into the Lab. Get both for $306.
Want your employer to cover it?
Many do. Request a pre-approval letter so you know you're covered before you pay. Request the letter
Thinking about Strategic Women membership?
The Lab becomes part of membership in 2027, and founding cohort members will get a discount on January membership.
