Leading in the eye of the storm

The weeks before Black Friday in a high-value startup feel like standing at the eye of a storm. This year, managing four major client integrations all at once brought an unprecedented surge of pressure, and with it, critical lessons about leadership under fire.

The Double-Edged Sword of Protection

As a CTO or Engineering Lead, one of the most important roles is to protect the team from the external pressure so they can focus on delivering flawless code. Shielding them from the barrage of small incidents, escalations, and shifting demands allows engineers to concentrate on the core challenges without the emotional overhead that comes from daily crises. Yet, that shield isn’t weightless. Every bit of stress diverted to leadership accumulates quietly but steadily.

Recognizing and Managing Burnout Risks

In this kind of crunch time, it’s almost instinctive to fall into the trap of taking on too much personally. The temptation to stay relentlessly in control, to be the calm at the center, is at times overwhelming. However, sustaining this indefinitely is neither healthy nor effective. Burnout doesn’t just sap energy; it erodes decision-making quality and threatens the entire project’s success.

Practical Steps for Navigating Temporary Insanity

  • Define strict triage rules. Identify what truly requires your attention and what can be resolved by others. Not every issue moves the needle equally.

  • Build trust in delegation. Empower team leads to manage smaller fires, with clear escalation paths for critical decisions. Also give them the power to deflect and deny.

  • Be transparent about limits. Share where the pressure points are and when a pause or realignment is necessary. This builds collective ownership rather than hidden strain.

  • Prioritize recovery rigorously. Intense weeks demand deliberate downtime, even brief breaks or mental shifts can recharge resilience.

  • Use reflection as a tool. Journaling or quick post-mortems help process stress and clarify next steps, preventing overload.

The Balancing Act of Leadership

Taking on this level of pressure during such a critical period is what should be expected of leadership, but it’s not a sustainable mode of operation. What matters most is cultivating the ability to keep your head cool and your team focused, then knowing when to redistribute pressure or step back. This balance, the paradox of visible strength combined with self-care, is what sets high-impact leaders apart in times of crisis.