How Elite Performers Manage Pressure Before the Moment with Dr. Michael Gervais

Summary

Revenue Builders Podcast Episode Summary

Title: How Elite Performers Manage Pressure Before the Moment with Dr. Michael Gervais
Date: July 26, 2026
Hosts: John Kaplan (Force Management), John McMahon (Five-time CRO)
Guest: Dr. Michael Gervais, Performance Psychologist

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Episode Overview

This engaging episode dives into the mental strategies elite performers—whether athletes or revenue-driving leaders—use to manage pressure and perform at their best when the stakes are high. Dr. Michael Gervais shares actionable insights for revenue leaders about understanding and training their psychological skills, drawing parallels between elite sport and high-stakes business environments. The conversation highlights the critical role of awareness, breathing, and self-talk, and underscores the importance of proactively preparing for pressure before “the moment” arrives.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

The Realities and Gifts of Trauma

• Trauma as a Catalyst (00:55)
  • Dr. Gervais reframes post-traumatic stress as "protection against re-traumatization," emphasizing how people reorganize their lives following traumatic events.
  • "That type of trauma can be an amazing laboratory to get down to, ‘wait, hold on, how do I work through this?’” (Dr. Gervais, 01:35)
  • Leaders or teammates who have faced and processed trauma often become “the best teammates” because they've embraced their own fragility and purpose.
  • Those who haven’t done the self-work—"the ones still thumping their chest to say, 'I'm an Alpha', whatever, don't trust them”—are not dependable partners in high-pressure environments. (Dr. Gervais, 02:28)

Activation and Performance Under Pressure

• Understanding Activation Levels (03:52)

  • The concept of “activation” (arousal) is introduced as the internal state you bring to high-pressure moments.
  • Dr. Gervais uses the Goldilocks analogy: “there's an activation level that's uniquely right for you.” (03:58)
    • Too high (7-10): Symptoms may include tremors, dry mouth, racing thoughts.
    • Just right (4-6): Energy and butterflies are present but harnessed and working in favor.
    • Too low (1-3): Lethargic, bored, under-activated.

• Nervousness vs. Danger (04:50)

  • Self-awareness is key: “What's my number, man? This feels like an eight. ... I just want to back it down a little, and I'm pretty good.” (Dr. Gervais, 05:51)

The Three Core Skills: Awareness, Breathing, Self-Talk

• Mental Skills Breakdown (05:51)
  • Awareness: Knowing your current activation level.
  • Breathing: “The skill of being calm comes from one place and one place only, which is breathing. So when you breathe you back down your activation level.” (Dr. Gervais, 06:09)
  • Self-Talk: Coaching yourself through the pressure.
  • “You put those three skills together, and that's kind of like the most powerful dynamic skills you can use.” (Dr. Gervais, 06:36)
  • It’s not enough to “remember" these right before a key moment—they must be trained in advance.

Preparation and the Difference Between Sport and Business

• Front-loading Mental Training (07:39)
  • Elite athletes rigorously “front-load” mental training using meditation, breathing, self-talk, and visualization before ever stepping into competition or business pitch.
  • “Big sport is about 10 to 15 years ahead of big business when it comes to investing in the performance attributes of their people.” (Dr. Gervais, 08:03)
  • In high-level organizations, companies are now investing in these psychological skills for their leaders and teams.

Impact and Takeaways for Revenue Leaders

• Application for Enterprise Sales and Leadership (08:42)
  • Modern leaders must treat mental preparation as seriously as technical training.
  • Those who have worked through adversity and honed their mental game excel as teammates and leaders.
  • Companies making investments in psychological training are seeing transformative results, with examples from Microsoft, Salesforce, and WPP.

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• On Facing Adversity and Teamwork:
  “Those folks that have experienced trauma and work through it, they're the best teammates. ... They've looked the dragon in the eyes and wrestled it down and become friends with the dragon.” (Dr. Gervais, 01:47)

• On Spotting True Readiness:
  “…the ones, again, who have wrestled with the dragon in their own life...they are not whipped around by the external world because they are governing by their values and their principles.” (Dr. Gervais, 02:14)

• On Managing Activation:
  “If you're too high on that activation, maybe you've got a little tremor, maybe you've got a little cottonmouth...That's like a 7, 8, 9, 10. You can do fine at a 7. But you're not in that kind of strike zone where the porridge is just right...” (Dr. Gervais, 04:14)

• On the Big Shift in Business:
  “Big sport is about 10 to 15 years ahead of big business when it comes to investing in the performance attributes of their people.” (Dr. Gervais, 08:03)

• On Front-loading Skills:
  “…you're hoping while you're waiting in the lobby that you're going to get those things right. That's not how it works.” (Dr. Gervais, 07:35)

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Timestamps of Key Segments

• 00:55 – 03:16: Dr. Gervais on trauma, teamwork, and the self-work needed for true leadership
• 03:16 – 03:52: John McMahon’s sales scenario leads into discussion on pressure and activation
• 03:52 – 05:51: Dr. Gervais on “activation,” finding your optimal state, and the Goldilocks analogy
• 05:51 – 07:39: Dr. Gervais details the key skills: awareness, breathing, self-talk, and importance of training these skills
• 07:39 – 09:29: The gap between sport and business in performance psychology; examples from world-class companies

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Final Thoughts

This episode provides a masterclass in understanding and proactively training the mental skills needed to thrive under business pressure—skills every revenue leader or team member can, and should, develop. Dr. Gervais’s blend of performance psychology and pragmatic advice makes this a must-listen for anyone who wants to execute at the highest level, especially when it truly counts.

Transcript

[John Kaplan]

Welcome to the Revenue Builders podcast hosted by John Kaplan and John McMahon. Dr. Michael Dravet joins us today, a performance psychologist who works with elite athletes, world class teams and senior leaders operating in a high pressure environment. In this clip, Dr. Gervais breaks down what happens when pressure rises before a critical sales moment, like walking into a meeting with an economic buyer after months of working on a major deal. He explains how to understand your level of activation, how to tell when nerves are working for you or against you, and why awareness, breathing and self talk need to be trained before the moment arrives. For revenue leaders, this is a practical look at the mental preparation required to execute when the stakes are real. Let's dive in.

[Dr. Michael Dravet]

So post traumatic stress disorder is the name for what happens after trauma. But. But it's actually not a great description of it because what happens when people go through traumatic experiences? They reorganize their lives to protect themselves from being re traumatized. So it's a protection of re traumatization is what we should call it. And what that does is it keeps, oftentimes it keeps people at a distance because for the most part, humans also are predatorial and so events can change us, but also the disappointment from other people in the way that they behave during those events or even the cause of those events. So we protect ourselves and we feel like we're alone. That type of trauma can be an amazing laboratory to get down to. Wait, hold on. How do I work through this? Oh, I got to figure out how to take care of myself. Okay. When I work those psychological schools, skills and practices, I feel a little bit more together and then I can't just be by myself in this world. I need to figure out how to be great with other people. So that's kind of level two. And when this starts to emerge, those folks that have experienced trauma and work through it, they're the best teammates. Yeah, they are flat out the best because they've embraced the fragility. They've looked the dragon in the eyes and wrestled it down and become friends with the dragon. So now they go out into the world with the Dragon and it's awesome. They are the best of the best of the best teammates. But the ones that don't do the work, the ones that are still thumping their chest to say, I'm a Alpha, whatever, don't trust them, do not trust them. They haven't done the work to know what they really stand for. But the ones again, who have wrestled with the dragon in their own life and they've come and they can Talk about it. And you can feel that they are not whipped around by the external world because they are governing by their values and their principles. They've got some purpose that's bigger than them. Those are the ones you want in your life. Those are the ones that will have your back. Those are the ones that you want to partner with because you go further when you work with other people. And that's the essence of elite sport. That's the essence of great teammates in great companies.

[John McMahon]

Talk a little bit about. I'm getting ready to go into a meeting with an economic buyer. I've been working on a sales situation for nine months. It's a multi million dollar deal. And I feel nervous. Even though I think that I'm, I've, I've definitely prepared, but I care so much. You know, I'm nervous. At the same time, you know, maybe there's this fear that's, you know, fear of failure, fear that I'm not going to get the deal. How do, how do I determine if I'm really scared and fearful or if I'm just a little nervous because I want it so bad?

[Dr. Michael Dravet]

Cool question. I'm prepared.

[John McMahon]

Is that a decent question?

[Dr. Michael Dravet]

Is that a what?

[John McMahon]

Is that a decent question?

[Dr. Michael Dravet]

Good question. Great question. That's a great question. You're speaking right to the heart of what activation. So it's a technical term in high performance psychology, which is arousal. And that arousal state is really talking about your level of internal activation. And if you think about a normal distribution curve where you've got like a inverted U as the model would suggest, that, and if you break that up into three sections, you've got the low part of the curve, the 1, 2, 3, 4, you've got the 4, 5, 6, which is the highest part of the curve, the top of the U. And then you've got the 7, 8, 9, 10, which is on the, on the right side. And go back to what our grandmothers likely taught us, which is the porridge is too cold, it's too hot, or it's just right. And when you lay that framing with activation, that is, it's the same type of thing, is that there's an activation level that's uniquely right for you, right? And if you're too high on that activation, maybe you're, you got a little tremor, maybe you've got a little cottonmouth, your breathing's changed, maybe you're racing up in your mind about distractions and what ifs. That's like a 7, 8, 9, 10. You can do fine at a 7. But you're not in that kind of strike zone where the porridge is just right where your body switched on. You're then at 4, 5, 6 mode where you've got an activation but you're harnessing it. You've got butterflies but they're working in formation. You've got that energy but you know you're able to, to capture it and drive it with the right type of calm intensity. And then again on the lower part of the scale is like you're yawning your board, your, you're just kind of lame, if you will, from an activation level. So how do you discern if it's nervousness or it is

[John McMahon]

danger?

[Dr. Michael Dravet]

Yeah, so. So one way is like what's my number, man? This feels like an eight. Okay. Oh well this is like a four. This is like a six. This. So I'm in the sweet spot. Four, five, six. I'm in the sweet spot. I just want to back it down a little and I'm pretty good. I need the skill to know how to back it down. So the skill of being calm comes from one place and one place only, which is breathing. So when you breathe you back down your activation level. But to know you first must be aware of where you are and to know how do I calibrate, is this an 8 or is this a 4? Is this a 7? And then you need the psychological skills to be able to bring it up with intensity or back it down with intensity. And so it's awareness is always kind of first and then breathing is the big lever to back it down. By the way, on the world stage, I don't know any athletes that need to bring it up. And when they start talking about like I need to bring it up, they're kind of on their way out. Like there's other stuff happening, but for the most part it's about bringing it back down. And then the third lever mental skill is self talk. So awareness, breathing and self talk, working with yourself to back yourself, to coach yourself. And you put those three skills together and that's kind of like the most powerful dynamic skills you can use. Now last, last part on this John, is that if you are about to go on stage or into a boardroom or you're going to make a pitch to an exco and you're like, oh, I remember I'm supposed to do those things. I'm supposed to be aware and breathe and self talk. And you're hoping while you're waiting in the lobby that you're going to get those things. Right. That's not how it works.

[John McMahon]

Right.

[Dr. Michael Dravet]

Just like elite athletes front load their physical training, they front load their technical training, they also front load their mental training in modern athletes so that when they get tested, they've got real skills that they can play with. So we were in the gym, we're in the mental gym. Meditation, breathing, self talk stuff, mental imagery. And then we're also doing technical stuff on the field. And that's what I would suggest is happening for the avant garde enterprise companies. Big Sport is about 10 to 15 years ahead of big business when it comes to investing in the performance attributes of their people. Because in big sport, the only, the only, the only asset is the person. And again, like, I don't know, 20 years ago in big sport they're like psychology, get out of here. That's for the week now. Now that's changed. Yes, that's totally changed. But big sport, I'm sorry, big business is about 10 to 15 years behind. And that's why I'll give a plug for my business here really quickly is that we're, we're so fortunate to work with senior leadership at Microsoft and Salesforce and companies like that to help them train their minds to be their very best. And then the cascade that throughout their organization. The same way we work with athletes on mental skills training, they're investing in their people in that same way. We just got back from London, work with WPP who's just having a real shocker in where they are in the industry and you can feel there's a swell happening because they're investing in their people for their psychological skills to be world class. Those are the companies that I'd like to pay attention to.

[Podcast Host/Announcer]

Thanks for listening to today's episode. If you enjoy the content, please subscribe, rate and review the show to help us reach more people. This show is brought to you by Force Management where we help companies improve sales performance, executing the growth strategy at the point of sale. Check out forcemanagement.com for more information.

[Dr. Michael Dravet]

Sam.