Your Best Capabilities Depend on the State You Bring

Welcome to Core+Clarity.

My goal is simple: help you build the capacity to meet the demands of modern leadership without burning out.

This is week 4 of a 9-week series exploring the relationship between nervous system regulation and leadership performance. Each week I'll share research, stories, and practical tools that have shaped both my professional career and personal practice.

Have you ever walked into an important meeting knowing you weren’t at your best, hoping you could push through anyway?

Most leaders have. And most push through.

What they often do not recognize is the cost: poorer judgment, narrower thinking, more reactive communication, and missed opportunities to connect with their team or client when that connection matters most.

The good news is that access is not fixed. By learning to recognize and influence your physiological state, you can bring more of your capabilities into the moments when you need them most.

Simone Biles made this principle visible to the world when she withdrew from several events at the Tokyo Olympics after experiencing the “twisties”—a dangerous loss of spatial awareness while performing in the air.

Her decision demonstrated something leaders often resist: when your internal state compromises your ability to perform safely and effectively, pushing through is not always strength.

Sometimes the most sophisticated performance decision is recognizing that your access to your capability has changed.

Novak Djokovic demonstrates the next step. Between points in a match, he uses conscious breathing to reset. His routines are not only about physical preparation or activation. They also help him regulate his state.

He does not leave that state entirely to chance because he knows it affects the quality of everything he does on the court.

His capability does not disappear under pressure. But his access to it can change from one point to the next. His physiological state helps determine how much of that capability actually shows up in his performance.

Biles shows the importance of recognizing your state accurately. Djokovic shows the value of learning how to influence it.

In a world of constant change, where leaders face growing volumes of information, decisions, and disruption, knowing your state and learning how to influence it matters more than ever.

Leadership development usually focuses on capability.

It teaches communication, strategy, coaching, decision-making, conflict management, and other important skills.

But capability is only part of the equation.

Capability is what you know and can do.

Access is how much of that capability is available when pressure rises.

Performance is what actually shows up in the moment.

A leader can have the experience, judgment, and skill the moment demands yet they can still fail to access them when pressure takes over.

That is why your state matters.

Your physiological state is constantly adjusting to the demands around you.

When your system becomes overactivated, you may feel urgent, anxious, reactive, or scattered. Your attention narrows. You move faster, but you may see less.

When it becomes under-activated, you may feel flat, foggy, disengaged, or unable to mobilize. The capability is still in you, but the energy required to use it may not be.

Between those states is the Optimal Zone: calm enough to think clearly and activated enough to respond effectively.

This does not mean being relaxed all the time. The right state depends on the moment. A difficult conversation may require steadiness. Your presentation may require more energy. A complex decision may require patience and perspective.

The goal is not to remain in one perfect state.

It is to recognize where you are, understand what the moment requires, and know how to move closer to the state that gives you the best access to your capabilities.

Once you recognize that your state is affecting your ability to access your capabilities, the next question is whether you can influence it.

Often, you can.

And it can be remarkably simple.

One of the fastest and most accessible ways to do that is through your breathing.

Slow, controlled breathing can help reduce unnecessary activation and create more space between stimulus and response. A slightly longer exhalation can be especially useful when you feel rushed, reactive, or overstimulated.

This is why intentional breathing practices are among the primary tools I teach.

Not because breathing removes the pressure. It does not solve the conflict, make the decision, or change the stakes.

What it can do is help you meet that pressure with more of your judgment, perspective, and skill available.

Sometimes the shift is subtle. Your thoughts slow down. Your attention widens. Your tone changes. You notice something you were about to miss.

That small change in state can change the quality of what happens next.

The goal is not to eliminate pressure. It is to meet it with more access to your capabilities.

Most leaders show up to their most important moments carrying whatever physiological state the day handed them.

That is changeable.

The first step is recognizing where you are.

The next is knowing what helps you arrive in the most appropriate physiological state.

What practices reliably help you return to your best thinking?

I'd love to hear your thoughts. Simply hit reply.

I read every response.

This series follows a deliberate progression:

Weeks 1–3: Learn why recovery protects performance, how pressure disrupts judgment, and why composure under pressure is a trainable skill.

Weeks 4–6: Recognize how your physiological state shapes access to your capabilities and what sustained stress can cost over time.

Weeks 7–9: Put the ideas into practice through simple tools, personal application, and a more sustainable approach to high performance.

What chronic stress can do to the body over time, and why high performers often do not notice until it is already showing up in their work.

- Steven Baillargeon

Founder, Core+Clarity