Leadership Under Pressure™
What looks like a
performance issue
is often
leadership under pressure.
Executive coaching and leadership consulting for senior leaders navigating complexity, high accountability, and mission-critical outcomes.
My work helps leaders restore access to choice so they can respond with clarity, discernment, and impact.
See Clearly
Recognize how pressure is shaping interpretation, judgment, and behaviour.
Act Intentionally
Restore access to the full range of possible responses and choose the response that best fits the situation.
Lead Effectively
Strengthen decisions, conversations, influence, and organizational outcomes.
Leadership risk
Pressure affects more than markets and operations
It affects leaders directly. Under sustained pressure, even strong leaders can begin operating in ways that amplify risk across the organization.
These are rarely technical failures.
They are leadership patterns under stress.
What’s at stake
When leadership narrows under pressure, the consequences extend beyond the individual leader.
Loss of trust
Credibility and alignment weaken when leadership narrows under pressure.
Reputational exposure
Behaviour at senior levels influences how clients, partners, and markets perceive the organization.
Talent loss
High performers disengage when leadership feels reactive or inconsistent.
Succession failure
Future leaders are not developed when current leaders operate in survival mode.
Most organizations address symptoms.
Few address the leadership patterns driving them.
Leadership Under Pressure™
Restoring access when pressure narrows leadership
VitalAction Coaching works with senior leaders and the organizations that support them in complex, high-accountability environments where pressure shapes leadership behaviour.
The work helps leaders recognize how pressure is influencing interpretation, judgment, communication, and the responses that feel available.
From there, leaders can restore access to a broader range of viable responses and choose the one that best fits the situation.
Explore the frameworkPressure increases
Complexity rises while certainty decreases and responsibility remains high.
Interpretation narrows
Fewer possibilities are considered and familiar responses become more dominant.
Access decreases
Perspective, flexibility, and intentionality become less available.
Leadership risk increases
The response may no longer fit what the situation actually requires.
“Working with Eric during the RBC Leadership Program was both practical and impactful. As I navigated complex people and business challenges, he was a steady sounding board who asked sharp questions rather than jumping to solutions. He helped me develop practical frameworks to manage conflict and broaden my thinking. The impact on how I lead has been significant.”
Patrick Bhang
Senior Director, Regional & Retail Marketing, RBC
Approach
We work at the level of leadership behaviour under pressure
The approach stays grounded in real decisions, conversations, tensions, and responsibilities as they unfold.
Real situations first
Coaching works with the situations leaders are actively carrying, rather than separating development from the work itself.
Complexity becomes more manageable
The objective is not to oversimplify the situation. It is to separate what matters and identify where choice remains available.
Coaching is not more work
The work integrates with the leader’s existing responsibilities rather than creating another set of disconnected obligations.
Services
How the work takes shape
The work is adapted to the leadership situation and the outcomes the engagement is intended to support.
Executive Coaching
One-on-one coaching for senior leaders operating in complex, high-accountability roles.
Team Coaching
Work with intact leadership teams where collective behaviour shapes trust, decision quality, and strategic alignment.
Group Coaching
Leaders from different teams step back from immediate demands, compare situations, and learn through shared reflection.
Leadership Assessments
Hogan, iEQ9, Leadership Navigator 360, Everything DiSC, and The Five Behaviors can be integrated when they add value.
Founder
Eric Dulong, ICF MCC
Executive Coach, Founder of VitalAction Coaching, and creator of Leadership Under Pressure™
Eric has accumulated more than 5,000 hours of coaching experience, working with more than 400 leaders in high-accountability environments where decisions carry significant consequences.
His work is shaped by more than 25 years inside organizations and by a practical understanding of how complexity, uncertainty, visible responsibility, and human dynamics influence leadership.
ICF Master Certified Coach
More than 5,000 coaching hours
More than 400 leaders coached
Coaching in English and French
Where this applies
High-accountability environments amplify leadership impact
The sector may differ, but the structural pressures often share similar characteristics.
Partner groups in professional firms
Senior leaders in engineering and infrastructure
Executives in financial services and insurance
Leaders in pharmaceutical, biotech, and biomedical organizations
Regulatory and public institutions under scrutiny
Senior leadership teams operating in matrix structures
“In a global cybersecurity leadership role, the complexity and stakes are constant. Working with Eric helped me better understand the motivations and triggers behind my reactions and how they were influencing my leadership, particularly in challenging situations. Our conversations built deliberately on each other and pushed me to respond more intentionally. The impact on how I lead has been lasting.”
Chad
Cyber Security Director, Fortune 500 Industrial Sector
When a senior leader leads differently, it shifts how people trust, decide, and perform across the system.