Everyone talks about staying calm under pressure as if the goal is to master the chaos. But the truth is…
You can’t always control the chaos.
The crowd gets louder. The threat evolves. The timeline shrinks. And the plan? It doesn’t always survive.
What you can control is something deeper.
The Anchor
You don’t need to control the chaos. You need to know who you are in the middle of it.
Because when things unravel, people don’t follow perfection.
They follow conviction.
They follow clarity.
They follow the person who knows their values when it’s loud, messy, and fast.
In security, leadership, or crisis, your identity becomes your compass.
If you haven’t done the inner work ahead of time, don’t be surprised when you freeze or fumble. But if you’ve taken time to define your principles, your mission, and your priorities?
That’s when calm becomes contagious.
Tactical Takeaway
When it’s chaotic, anchor yourself in three questions:
What matters most right now? (Cut the noise.)
Who do I need to be for this team? (Step into the role.)
What does integrity look like at this moment? (Do that.)
You’re not here to control the storm.
You’re here to lead through it.
Bottom Line
When the pressure rises, don’t reach for control, reach for character. That’s what people trust. That’s what carries you through.
Ask most people what security means, and they’ll talk about the “3 Gs”: guns, gates, and guards. They’ll tell you it’s about risk mitigation, emergency response, or keeping bad things from happening. And they’re not necessarily wrong, but they’re not entirely right either.
Security isn’t just about what could go wrong.
It’s about making more go right.
That single mindset shift can transform how organizations see safety not as a necessary cost but as a strategic enabler.
The Old Way: A Defensive Posture
Traditionally, security has lived in the shadows. It’s reactive. It shows up when things break down. It’s often left out of the planning conversations but first in line when blame is passed around.
That model is built on fear.
And while fear can motivate short-term compliance, it rarely inspires long-term commitment. When security is framed as the “department of no,” it becomes a barrier, not a bridge, to progress.
The result?
Security leaders struggle to get buy-in.
Budgets get cut.
Innovation is stifled.
And morale? Don’t even ask.
The New Way: A Mission-Aligned Mindset
What if we flipped the narrative?
What if security became synonymous with confidence? With clarity? With operational freedom?
Great security doesn’t just reduce threats. It expands potential.
It clears the runway for teams to move faster because they know someone’s watching the radar. It gives leadership the data and visibility to make bold decisions. It empowers frontline employees to act decisively under pressure because the systems around them are built for resilience, not chaos.
When you see security as a value-add, it shifts from liability to leverage.
So, What Does That Look Like?
Here’s how organizations can reframe security as a force multiplier:
Start with “Why,” not just “What if.”
Before discussing risks, consider purpose. What are we trying to achieve? Then, ask how security can protect, support, and amplify that mission, not just guard it.
2. Partner early, not just respond late.
Security should have a seat at the table when decisions are made, not just when incidents happen. The earlier they’re involved, the more friction they can remove from operations.
3. Translate risk into relevance.
Don’t just talk about threat actors and vulnerabilities. Show how a security posture improves fan experience, protects brand equity, ensures compliance, or reduces downtime.
4. Measure what matters.
Move beyond incident reports. Track response times, policy adoption rates, stakeholder confidence, and training effectiveness. When you tie security to performance, not paranoia, you earn trust.
A Personal Note
As someone who transitioned from law enforcement to the private sector, I had to unlearn a lot of things.
In policing, seeing the world in terms of threat made sense. But in the corporate world, especially in sports and entertainment, you miss the bigger picture if all you do is focus on what could go wrong. You miss the opportunity to create the conditions where things go exceptionally right. Smoother operations, stronger teams, and safer environments that don’t feel like fortresses.
That’s why I believe in security as a leadership function, not just as a safety measure but as a strategic differentiator.
The Bottom Line
Security isn’t the brakes. It’s the alignment.
It helps you go faster, straighter, and safer toward your mission.
If you’re in the business of building something that matters, whether it’s a team, a brand, or a venue, don’t just ask, “What could go wrong?”
Ask instead:
“How can security help more go right?”
That’s the question that turns safety into strategy and fear into forward motion.
If this resonates with you, subscribe or share with someone leading the charge in risk, resilience, or operations. Let’s build safer, stronger systems together.
Why Leadership Under Pressure Has Less to Do with Protocols and More to Do with People
There’s a moment before every high-stakes event where the world feels like it holds its breath. The stands are full, radios crackle, eyes are on you, and all the preparation you’ve done gets boiled down to split-second decisions and how well your team trusts you to make them.
It took me years and more than a few lessons learned the hard way to realize something important. People don’t rise to the level of your plan. They fall to the level of your leadership.
Whether you’re leading security operations for an NFL game, coordinating emergency response for a stadium evacuation, or guiding a team through any high-pressure environment, these are the three lessons I wish someone had pulled me aside and said out loud.
1. People Don’t Follow Plans, and They Follow People
You can write the perfect operations plan. You can laminate, color-code, and send it to every stakeholder twice. But when things go sideways, and they will, your people will look to you, not the binder.
I learned this during an afternoon event when a severe weather alert forced us to consider evacuating 70,000 fans. Every protocol said one thing. But the decision-making needed leadership, not checklist-following. My team needed clarity. They needed confidence. And they needed it from me, not page 42 of the EOP.
A great plan makes you feel prepared. A great leader makes others feel capable. And when the pressure hits, that’s what matters most.
2. Trust Is Built Before the Pressure Starts
You don’t build trust in the middle of a crisis. You cash in on the trust you’ve already built.
My mistake early on was assuming my title came with automatic trust. It doesn’t. Trust is built in the mundane moments, pre-shift huddles, showing up consistently, owning your mistakes.
When you’ve taken the time to listen to your people, to include them in decision-making, to be human, you’ve already invested in a line of credit you’ll draw on when the heat’s on.
In my experience, the teams that move fastest in a crisis aren’t the ones with the best gear or the most experience. They’re the ones who trust each other enough to act without second-guessing.
Don’t wait for the sirens to build the relationship. That’s too late.
3. Your Calm Is More Contagious Than Your Commands
Early in my career, I thought command presence meant being loud, assertive, and directive.
But in a bomb threat scenario where panic was one sentence away, I learned the real truth. What you model emotionally matters more than what you say.
If you’re calm, others will be too. Your tone, posture, and breathing set the emotional temperature of the room or the stadium. It’s not about suppressing urgency; it’s about channeling it.
One of my mentors told me, “You don’t get to panic. Not because you’re not scared, but because they need to believe it’s handled.” That stuck.
In high-stakes moments, your presence is the plan. Act accordingly.
Here’s the Bottom Line
Leadership under pressure isn’t about being the loudest voice or the smartest person in the room. It’s about being the clearest presence. It’s about being the one others instinctively trust when the plan unravels.
People don’t follow plans. They follow people. And the kind of leader you are before the game starts determines what happens after the whistle blows.
If you’re preparing to lead in high-stakes environments or already are, let this be your reminder:
Show up before the crisis.
Build trust when it’s quiet.
And carry calm like it’s part of your uniform.
You won’t always get it perfect. But if your people know you have their back and lead with clarity, consistency, and calm, you’ll get them through.
And that’s leadership that lasts beyond the event.
