“I prepare for days, then freeze in the room. Afterwards, I replay every word.”
You feel tense, judged and drained. Your best thinking disappears when the stakes rise.
After
What leaders often tell us:
“My chest tightens, I feel my feet, and I stay with the room.”
You feel steady and present. You think clearly, read people and influence calmly.
Case study
What leaders often tell us:
A typical story, built from what leaders often tell us. Names and numbers are illustrative.
Daniel, newly promoted finance director
Industry
Financial services
Role / title
Director, financial planning
Direct reports
6
Time in current role
7 months
Stress level (1–10)
8 / 10
Average work hours / week
55 h
Strategic thinking / week
2 h
Stakeholders under direct authority
30%
What happened (STAR)
S
Situation. Daniel presented to the executive team every month. He prepared for days, froze on hard questions and replayed meetings at night.
T
Task. Stay clear and persuasive in high-stakes reviews within 8 weeks, without more preparation.
A
Actions. He learned his cue: a tight chest. He took three breaths and felt his feet before each review. He wrote a 3-line intention, then stopped. He said “I don’t know yet” once. He opened 1:1s with “What’s on your mind?”
R
Results. After 8 weeks: stress 4/10 (was 8). Preparation 4 h per review (was 12). Strategic time 5 h a week (was 2).
Before
“If I say the wrong thing in that room, I’m finished.”
He tied every answer to his worth. His gut brain treated each question as a threat.
After
“I still feel the pressure. Now I notice it, breathe, and stay in the room.”
He feels steady and credible. Executives ask for his view, and he sleeps again.
3 Brains Framework: high-pressure performance starts in your gut
By Ludo Pasquereau, ICF PCC coach, trained in 3 Brains Coaching by Christoffel Sneijders. 4,000+ coaching sessions with logic-driven leaders.
Three brains, three goals, three languages
You have nerve cell networks in your head, around your heart and in your gut.
The 3 Brains model treats each one as a brain with its own goal and language.
Head brain: the newest. It wants to be right. It speaks in thoughts and words.
Heart brain: it wants to bond. It speaks in feelings like joy, guilt or sadness.
Gut brain: the oldest. It wants you safe and successful. It speaks in fear, anger and worry.
Most of us believe the head brain runs the show. Under pressure, it rarely does.
The 3 Brains contrast: what a triggered gut brain does
When your gut brain senses danger, it takes your energy for survival.
It pushes you to fight, flee, freeze or please. Your chest tightens, palms sweat, sleep goes.
It also switches off your heart brain (connection, trust) and your head brain (strategy, logic).
Survival research shows how strong this is: in disasters, roughly three in four people are too stunned to think clearly.
In a high-stakes leadership meeting, the same thing happens on a smaller scale. Your influence drops.
Why the workplace keeps triggering it
Your gut brain is ancient. Long ago, rejection by the tribe meant death.
Today, a hard question can feel like the first step to being fired and rejected.
Pressure, targets and constant judgement, amplified by social media likes, keep that alarm ringing.
Six steps: untrigger first, then think
Notice your body cue before your thoughts.
Name which brain is talking, without judging it.
Soothe: feel your feet and take three slow breaths.
Right-size the next step until it is easy to win.
Detach: the result is not who you are.
Act: your head and heart are back, so plan and connect.
Safety works, even when it misses the cause
Think of a parent with a crying child. They give comfort first, then ask what happened.
The comfort does not fix the cause. It only needs to reach the gut brain.
The same works in your team. Lower the stakes before you discuss solutions.
This is safety in leadership in practice. Head and heart come back, and real dialogue starts.
Expectations and attachment: the two hidden triggers
An unrealistic expectation alone rarely keeps you awake.
Attach it to your worth, and failure of the task becomes failure of you.
So make the first step as easy as writing your name. Then remember you are not your slide deck.
Why it works for logic-driven leaders
It gives your head brain a rational map of the irrational.
It is neuroscience-based coaching made practical: body cues, two-minute habits, clear steps.
It builds self-leadership and mindfulness in leadership without long meditation sessions.
That is high-pressure performance and high-stakes leadership with less stress and more influence.
The 3 Brains model was created by Christoffel Sneijders MCC (3 Brains Intelligence). Ludo is trained in 3 Brains Coaching. This page is his own practical reading of the model.3 Brains Intelligence · Survival figure: Leach (2004)
3 Brains Summary Table
With more time
Apply more often
Apply it every time you feel triggered, and during your morning, evening and weekly reviews.
It is a practical model of three brains: head, heart and gut. Each has its own goal and language. It explains why stress switches off your best thinking, and how to switch it back on.
Is it neuroscience or a metaphor?
Both. Your heart and gut have their own networks of nerve cells. The gut alone has over 100 million. The three-brain picture simplifies a complex science, so treat it as a useful map.
What triggers the gut brain at work?
Anything that feels like a threat to your success or belonging. Hard questions, judgement, unrealistic targets and fear of rejection are common triggers.
How do I calm it in the middle of a meeting?
Notice your body cue. Feel your feet and take three slow breaths. Then lower the stakes: “I don’t know yet. I’ll come back to you.”
How does it help me influence others?
People act differently when they feel differently. When you stay calm and make it safe, their head and heart brains come back. Then they can hear you.
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