The habit killing your best hires under pressure

Every recruiter’s got a plan...

…until the heat hits.

You know the moment:

Twelve roles pile up. Founder’s breathing down your neck.

Top candidate ghosts.

Now the VP pings you every 15 minutes: “Update?”

So what do most of us do?

The usual:

– Slam the laptop harder

– Whisper-blame marketing

– Shut the door

– Scroll LinkedIn like it’s life support

I’ve done them all—before my third coffee.

In my Series A days, I juggle three offers hanging by a thread.

Founder’s pacing like it’s a rocket launch.

Slack’s on fire—“Any updates?” “Just circling back.” “Status?”

I stop eating. Stop sleeping. Push harder.

I think urgency closes deals.

It doesn’t.

All three candidates vanish in 48 hours.

Here’s why:

When things go sideways... your brain doesn’t drive.

Your nervous system does.

And if you can’t regulate it?

It floors the gas... and crashes.

Picture it, Polyvagal-style:

Dorsal (Shutdown): You freeze. Ghost candidates. Ignore emails.

Sympathetic (Fight/Flight): You blitz. Fire off messages. Hammer inboxes.

Ventral (Safe/Stable): You ground. You respond. You lead.

This isn’t manifestation fluff.

It’s neurobiology.

And it wrecks your close rate more than any subject line ever could.

You can have:

– Killer sourcing tools

– Perfect outreach

– A warm pipeline

But when pressure hijacks your system?

Your hires vanish.

Your rep takes a hit.

Your energy tanks.

So start small.

Next time pressure strikes...

Just watch. Don’t fix. Observe.

That alone resets your system.

Ask:

When I feel the weight—what do I do?

Do I bury myself in busywork?

Snap at candidates?

Disappear?

Name it.

That’s your baseline.

Because resilience isn’t being bulletproof.

It’s rewiring yourself to rebound when stress hits hard.

💬 Hit reply and tell me your pressure move.

I read every one.

And I bet yours echoes more than you think.

Stay steady,

James