Ceri Evans - Perform Under Pressure

Ceri’s involvement with the All Blacks has allowed the team to grow greater understanding of how we can perform far better under pressure. This has let the team use their abilities to far greater effect and in doing so enhance the All Black legacy.

– Steve Hansen, All Blacks Coach

Human performance in Formula One is about more than two drivers – it’s a team of up to 1000 people, all of them elite performers in their own areas. Working with Ceri has helped us shape our ethos, strengthen the resilience of our internal culture and unlock greater performance from the team. Our people are our sustainable source of competitive advantage; Ceri’s straightforward, practical and humble approach has been an important building block for the success of our team.

– Toto Wolff, Team Principal and CEO, Mercedes–AMG Petronas Motorsport

Performing under pressure is the platform for a successful career. Ceri helped me clear my mind, focus on decisive matters and strengthen my vision for the team. His contributions to the team helped them analyse what we faced and target individual and collective performance. Thank you Ceri for your great contribution.

– Arsène Wenger, Manager, Arsenal FC 1996–2018

Ceri’s approach is a unique blend of practical experience at the cutting edge of the pressure continuum that goes beyond the intuitive – it is scientific, practical and results oriented. He provided me with a more disciplined, clinical and deliberate approach to understanding and dealing with pressure than I had previously encountered; and enabled our leadership team to embrace pressure and operate in an increasingly complex political environment.

– Brendan Boyle, Chief Executive, Ministry of Social Development 2011–2018

Ceri changes lives! Ceri’s unique ability to take a complex, highly personal and often challenging subject and make it alluring, memorable and actionable is a true gift. The leaders on our programmes have embraced the RED–BLUE ‘secret’ for thriving under pressure and are building more effective organisations, communities and home lives as a result.

– Roz McCay, Co-Founder Hiakai CEO programme, Facilitator, NZ Global Women Break Through Leaders programme

Everyone in business wants to be world-leading, but very few are. Ceri’s Perform Under Pressure programme provides leaders with the framework and tools to shift an organisation’s performance towards its vision of excellence. Ceri has helped me focus on making decisions that drive positive movement towards this.

– Bill Moran, Chair of Sport New Zealand and High Performance Sport NZ

Ceri provided us with the common language and a united approach needed to thrive in investment attraction, a very competitive, pressure-filled environment. He shifted the conversation of high performance behaviour from a sensitive topic to an energising and fun experience.

– Dylan Lawrence, General Manager – Investment, NZ Trade & Enterprise

I harassed Ceri for a few months until he gave in to working with me as an entrepreneur, and I’m glad he did because he changed my life. Ceri brought my attention to unconscious habits that were slowing me down and causing me to fold under pressure. Now I’m more aware of my emotional state, make clearer decisions, and my business is performing better too.

– Sam Ovens, Entrepreneur

Ceri took an impossibly complex change environment and broke it down to a simple, clear and easy-to-use framework, delivering thinking beyond what we have seen before. He has held me to account and is relentless in his quest for improvement of both himself and our business.

– Garry Lund, General Manager, People and Culture, Gough Group

Ceri treated our coaches and 60 amateur teenage rowers vying for national titles with the respect of international athletes. He showed us that pressure is relative and universal, and taught us fun ways to deal with it. Ceri’s sense of humour and language ensured that his message was relatable – his RED/BLUE analogy is still embedded in our squad culture three years on!

– Mark Cotham, Director of Rowing, Rangi Ruru Girls’ School, Christchurch

Ceri’s clear approach provides tools which can be used by anybody who wants to perform to their very best under pressure. His framework was enlightening and resonated with surgeons, who also face pressure and expectations of high performance.

– Andrew Vincent, Orthopaedic Surgeon

Perform Under Pressure was the most impactful – and challenging – leadership programme we have participated in as an executive team. Ceri armed us with knowledge and tools that have been invaluable in understanding how we each deal with pressure and drive improved performance. The real ‘aha!’ moment came when we discovered that our performance gap was in how we were working together, allowing us to commit to closing the gap together.

– Neal Barclay, CEO, Meridian

A wise adviser, perceptive facilitator and enlightened educator. He has helped me and the teams I work with immensely.

– Gilbert Enoka, All Blacks Manager – Leadership

We were a young, ambitious and highly successful team already leading our industry, but Ceri’s approach completely changed our own perception of ‘what good looked like’. It was a revelation – we found it refreshing, enjoyable and were excited to take it further, compressing months of work into a matter of weeks to regularly achieve timelines that even our own team would call absurd and ridiculous. It stuck – ruthless speed became our new ‘normal’ and the business results (and awards) flowed.

– Mark Soper, General Manager, Powershop 2016–2019

Excellence in any field requires our psychology and physiology to be in harmony. Forensic psychiatrist Dr. Ceri Evans’ RED–BLUE model provides a unique and accessible framework that supports clear thinking and adaptive behaviour under pressure. He builds on contemporary thinking in physiology to explain the neurobiological basis for a counterintuitive mental strategy: challenging ourselves to face the threat and find a solution.

– David Paterson, Professor of Physiology, Head of Department, University of Oxford

PERFORM UNDER PRESSURE

Dr CERI EVANS

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

While this book is intended as a general information resource and all care has been taken in compiling the contents, it does not take account of individual circumstances and is not in any way a substitute for medical advice or treatment. It is essential that you always seek qualified medical advice if you suspect you have a health problem. The author and publisher cannot be held responsible for any claim or action that may arise from reliance on the information contained in this book.

Thorsons

An imprint of HarperCollins Publishers

1 London Bridge Street

London SE1 9GF

www.harpercollins.co.uk

First published in 2019 by HarperCollins Publishers (New Zealand) Ltd

This edition published in 2019 by Thorsons

© Ceri Evans Consulting Limited 2019

Cover design by Darren Holt, HarperCollins Design Studio

Illustrations by Renzie Hanham

Author photo by Diederik van Heyningen, Lightworkx Photography

A catalogue record of this book is available from the British Library