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The Eye of Sauron
Leadership advice for those under high pressure
“One moment only it stared out, but as from some great window immeasurably high there stabbed northward a flame of red, the flicker of a piercing Eye; and then the shadows were furled again and the terrible vision was removed.”
– The Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King
If you’ve been in the industry for some time, you’ll recall the moments that you were under intense pressure to deliver.
Sometimes this pressure can come from anticipation: your team just happens to be responsible for delivering the most important new feature for the company this year. Pressure to deliver can also come from catastrophe: parts of your infrastructure may not have scaled as expected and are continually on fire, and unless a new solution is developed, customers will start dropping away.
In these moments, you’ll have felt what I like to describe as the gaze of the Eye of Sauron: whichever way you turn, the entire business is looking toward you. It’s uncomfortable. You can feel the heat. There are emails, Slack messages, JIRA nudges, interruptions in person, you name it — it’s constant and stressful.
Depending on your mindset, you can turn these tough situations into a challenging but rewarding experience for your team, or…
