http://www.sherylkline.com/blog

If you’ve ever ‘choked’ during an important conversation, it means that you’re human and that you care deeply about the outcome which is great! What’s not so great is that many times our inability to emotionally regulate robs us of our ability to influence, especially when the stakes are high.

Here’s a look at my recent closed session at SFVegas for the Rising Stars cohort at Women in Securitization. The focus was on Clarity, and what I'm about to share works any time of year, especially when you're facing pressure, uncertainty, or a high stakes moment.

We're exploring three Olympic-level strategies that rarely get the attention they deserve, yet they change everything when you use them with intention: Agency, Identity, and Rituals. And if you love having a sense of control (that’s me!), you're going to find these very effective:

1) Agency: You Have More Than You Think

The root cause for non-clinical anxiety is almost always the same, fixating on things we cannot control: how we'll be perceived by others, how the audience will react, whether you'll get the job, promotion, or the raise. Those are real concerns, but the outcome is not fully within our power to determine.

Agency is the antidote, because it draws your attention back to what we can actually control. It's knowing exactly what you DO have control over and shifting your attention to those one or two things. The simplest way to build agency quickly is to decide two things: What is my desired outcome?, and What steps are within my control to move toward it? You may not have agency over whether the promotion materializes, but you absolutely have agency over the people you talk to, the skills you build, the conversations you initiate, and the commitments you keep.

2) Identity: Be Your Future Leader Starting Now!

You've heard me say it before: new level, new devil. Any time you stretch into a bigger role or bigger visibility, that little voice may show up. "Who do you think you are? You're not ready."

Feeling like an imposter? Good! It means that you’ve raised your hand to dream bigger, be in the rooms that make you uncomfortable, and raise your hand for positions that challenge youRather than fight it, acknowledge it, validate it, and then choose your next-level identity anyway. Identity is not a title. It's an internal agreement. If you want to be a director, VP, or higher, start thinking and operating like you are in that role now. If you want to be in bigger rooms, start carrying yourself like you belong in them now. Your current identity will always pull your behavior back to what's familiar, but your next-level identity pulls your behavior forward and creates the conditions for others to see you at that level, too.

3) Rituals: The Missing Link Between Confidence and Consistency

There's often confusion between habits and rituals.. A habit is something you do consistently with flexibility. For example, I exercise every morning before work. Occasionally, I have an early meeting, so my exercise happens after my work day. A ritual happens at a specific time and does not change. For example, prior to all coaching sessions, I take three deep breaths and commit to being fully present. Rituals create stability inside uncertainty.

Read more and watch my video at: https://www.sherylkline.com/blog/agency-over-anxiety-the-three-levers-that-create-clarity-when-stakes-are-high

If I can support you, your team, or your organization, please reach out to me directly at Sheryl@SherylKline.com.

I'm cheering you on, always!
- Sheryl

http://www.sherylkline.com/blog

In honor of International Women’s Day 2026, I’m sharing a series of research backed and proven processes that truly moves the needle for women in leadership and the organizations that rely on them.

In the coming weeks, we’ll focus on promotion velocity, retention protection, deepening the leadership bench, and avoiding lost productivity and lost revenue during disruptive times.

Given these proven tools, repeatable processes, and pressure proofed frameworks, companies can gain measurable progress, especially when the stakes are high. Today’s focus is on two underestimated levers with outsized impact:

• emotional resilience
• strategic sponsorship

As a two-time best selling author, speaker, and certified high performance executive coach, I help women leaders and rising leaders build Olympic level confidence and FBI grade strategic influence that will help them successfully deepen and manage key relationships (internally and externally) as well remain highly performing during disruptive or during times of change.First, let’s talk about the many times, invisible roadblocks.

Emotional tax is alive and well. The research tells us that it gets more expensive at higher levels AND for women who are further marginalized within our gender.

That matters because as stakes rise, the cost of carrying too much without the right tools and strategic sponsorship rises too. If organizations want to retain executive and high potential women, accelerate promotion velocity, and deepen their leadership bench, emotional resilience cannot be left to chance.

Neither can strategic sponsorships.

What if female leaders have both?

Three things.

1. Productivity holds under pressure ... and profitability improves
   During disruption, leaders who can anchor down and keep moving protect performance. When women leaders have the tools to stay grounded, organizations avoid costly drops in execution, momentum, and outcomes. This is not just leadership development. It’s profitable.
2. Leaders stop getting pulled into ego driven dynamics
   Ego and narcissistic behaviors exist in many workplaces, internally and externally. Without tools, these dynamics drain bandwidth, derail confidence, and create unnecessary conflict. With the right tools and partnerships, women learn to distance themselves from those behaviors, maneuver around them, and in some cases, get those personalities on their side to support outcomes. That is emotionally protective and tactically smart.
3. Trust and loyalty deepen ... and relationships weather the storm
   AI matters. And if we hit disruption, what carries organizations through is not technology alone. It’s trust, loyalty, and relationships. Leaders who deepen trust and build stronger relationships create stability during instability. That is how companies stay productive and profitable when things get noisy.

What can organizations give?

First, give proven strategies to sharpen Clarity from the third person.

If you’ve been in my community for a bit, you’ve heard me say....

Read more at: https://www.sherylkline.com/blog/promotion-velocity-and-retention-protection-via-emotional-resilience-and-strategic-partnerships

If you would like to learn more about the Fearless Female Leadership enterprise digital framework, please click below. I’m glad to share more. And if I can support you or your organization through speaking, coaching, or peer advisory mastermind work, I’d love to partner to help you help the leaders in your organization. Let's chat!

http://www.sherylkline.com/blog

One of the questions I’m asked frequently, whether I’m leading a mastermind cohort, working one on one with clients, or speaking from a stage, is this:

“What is the successful sequence of making a ‘big ask’ and receiving buy-in?”

And this applies internally ... asking for new scope, a title, compensation, or resources.

It also applies externally ... asking a client to commit, expand, renew, or say yes to a bigger engagement.

Most people think the ask is the moment that matters most.

It’s not.

The ‘ask’ is the fourth step.

If you want buy-in, you need the right sequence ... because the sequence is what makes the ask feel like a solution, not a request for the other to give something up.

So, the next time you commit to making a big ask, consider the following:

Step 1: Build a Trust and Safety Runway

Before you ask for anything, it’s important to build a trust and safety runway.

Not trust that you can get something done or competence trust.

Explicit communication that demonstrates rust that you understand and care about the other person’s perspective/condition.

Trust that you are paying attention to what they’re carrying. This creates safety for them to lean into what you’re asking.

This is a need, not a bonus. In our hierarchy of needs, we need to feel safe and cared for. And this step is often overlooked.

So what does it look like?

It sounds like an explicit concern. Keep in mind, to sound like you care it’s imperative that you do!

• “It sounds like this quarter is carrying a lot of weight for you.”
• “It sounds like you’re being asked to hold a lot of priorities at once.”
• “It seems like this issue is incredibly important.”

And here’s the beautiful part:

It is okay if you are slightly off.

If you say, “It sounds like XYZ is the main concern,” and you’re not perfectly right, people will correct you ... and most people actually love to correct you.

That correction creates clarity. And clarity creates connection.

Step 2: Name Their Loss Pain ... and Truly Care About It

Next is loss pain.

Loss pain is a huge driver of motivation, even more so than potential benefits. Before making an ask, it’s important to understand what the other person is trying to avoid losing.

It’s not enough to state someone’s loss pain though.

Again, it’s vital to genuinely care about it ... and you have to communicate that care.

How?

Slow your speaking down a little. Lean in a little. Be present.

If you’re talking about lost revenue, lost traction, lost progress, or losing momentum in the quarter ... do not rush past it. Do not deliver it like a bullet point.

Let it land with weight.

Because how you deliver it is part of how you build trust.

And if you do this well, the other person will feel something important:

“This person understands AND cares what I’m carrying.”

Step 3: Let It Sit ... Then End on a Crescendo

This is where timing becomes everything.

When you take someone low emotionally, it’s memorable which is good! However, the “last impression is the lasting impression” as a mentor of mine says, so we don’t want to end a conversation there. It is okay if there’s a pause.

To read further and gain more in-depth perspective viewing my video, visit my blog at: https://www.sherylkline.com/blog/the-sequence-of-a-big-ask

I’m cheering you on always. If I can support you, your team, or your organization in any way, please reach out to me directly.

- Sheryl