When everything is going right, almost anyone can appear to be a good leader.
The real test comes when everything goes wrong.
A crisis hits. People panic. Information changes by the hour. Decisions have to be made quickly. The consequences of getting something wrong can affect employees, customers, finances, and sometimes much more.
In those moments, experience matters—but according to strategic operations consultant and leadership strategist Aileda Bailey, another capability can matter just as much: the ability to regulate yourself and remain consciously aware under pressure.
Aileda discovered this firsthand during the COVID-19 pandemic while working with medical owners, practitioners, and field teams in New York City. What began as strategic operations work quickly became crisis management on an extraordinary scale. Protective equipment disappeared. Medical supplies became scarce. Regulations changed rapidly. Teams were operating under intense uncertainty.
In the middle of that chaos, Aileda discovered that the ability to remain calm and clear was not simply a personal trait. It was a leadership capability.
That realization eventually became the foundation for her Conscious Leadership Development system and her book, Wake Up and Lead.
Her message for entrepreneurs, executives, and high-achieving professionals is compelling: before you can consistently lead other people through uncertainty, you need to understand how to lead yourself.
The Ultimate Leadership Test Happens Under Pressure
Aileda had been working in strategic operations for approximately 15 years when the pandemic changed the nature of her work.
She had been contracted by medical practitioners and owners in New York before the pandemic began. When COVID-19 hit, the original scope of the engagement changed dramatically.
The teams she supported were suddenly dealing with rapidly changing conditions, shortages of protective equipment and medications, evolving laws and regulations, and an environment that demanded decisions at extraordinary speed.
Aileda stepped into a director of operations role and helped build systems and field teams in real time.
There was no opportunity to wait for perfect information.
There was no established playbook for every situation.
Leaders had to respond to what was happening while simultaneously trying to understand what might happen next.
And that is where Aileda noticed something important.
The ability to stay calm was not simply about feeling better.
It directly affected the ability to think clearly.
What Happens When Leaders Panic?
Fear and panic are natural responses to extreme uncertainty.
But Aileda argues that when leaders become overwhelmed, their ability to make strategic decisions can be compromised.
During the pandemic, she witnessed practitioners and business owners who understandably wanted to withdraw from the situation. Some people went into what she described as a panic response.
The problem is that panic and strategic leadership do not work well together.
When a leader becomes consumed by fear, the immediate emotional response can take over the decision-making process.
Instead of asking, "What is the best decision given the information we have?" the mind can become focused on escape, threat, or worst-case scenarios.
For leaders, that creates a dangerous cycle.
Pressure increases.
Clarity decreases.
Poor decisions create additional problems.
Those problems create more pressure.
And the cycle continues.
Aileda's approach starts by interrupting that cycle.
Conscious Leadership Begins With Your Own Operating System
One of the central concepts in Aileda's work is the "human operating system."
Her premise is that leaders need to understand how their own physical and mental systems respond to pressure.
Most people spend enormous amounts of time learning how to operate businesses, technology, financial systems, and organizational processes.
Far fewer spend comparable time learning how they themselves operate.
What happens when you are overwhelmed?
What triggers your fear response?
What happens to your decision-making when you are exhausted?
What patterns do you automatically fall into?
What causes you to become reactive?
These questions matter because leadership does not happen independently of the person doing the leading.
Your internal state influences how you communicate, how you evaluate information, how you interact with employees, and how you make decisions.
Understanding yourself is therefore not separate from leadership development.
It is part of it.
Are You Actually Making Conscious Decisions?
Aileda offers an intriguing way to think about everyday behavior.
She describes conscious awareness as being similar to the pilot of an airplane, while the subconscious mind functions more like autopilot.
Autopilot is useful.
You do not want to consciously think through every basic action you take throughout the day.
But there are moments when you need the pilot back in control.
Especially when turbulence begins.
The same principle applies to leadership.
Routine situations can often be handled through established habits and automatic responses. But when circumstances change dramatically, leaders need the ability to become more conscious of what is happening and deliberately choose their response.
That is particularly important during periods of rapid change.
The more unpredictable the environment becomes, the more valuable conscious awareness can become.
The Leadership Skill You Can Train
One of the most important questions Joe raises during the conversation is whether conscious leadership is something some people simply possess naturally.
Aileda's answer is no.
She believes people can train themselves to hold a more conscious state for longer periods of time.
Her work has involved entrepreneurs, business owners, and professionals in highly demanding fields. The common thread is not that these people are naturally immune to stress.
It is that they can develop different patterns of responding to it.
This is an important distinction for leaders.
You do not have to wait until you become naturally calm.
You can begin practicing how you respond to pressure before the next crisis arrives.
In other words, leadership development is not just about acquiring knowledge.
It is also about developing new behaviors.
Don't Wait for the Crisis to Train Yourself
One of the strongest lessons from Aileda's pandemic experience is that leaders cannot assume they will suddenly become calm and clear when a major crisis arrives.
The training needs to happen before the crisis.
Aileda describes her own ability to remain centered during the pandemic as something that had developed over a lifetime of learning, study, and personal interest.
She had spent years exploring subjects involving the brain and human behavior.
When the crisis arrived, those patterns were already there.
That is similar to physical training.
You do not wait until the championship game to start practicing.
You prepare before you need the skill.
The same principle applies to leadership under pressure.
Change the Language, Change the Perspective
One of the most practical ideas Aileda shares involves something surprisingly simple: the words we use.
Consider the statement:
"I'm stressed."
Now replace it with:
"I'm facing a challenge."
Or, if you are willing to take it further:
"This could be an opportunity."
The external situation may not have changed.
But your relationship to the situation can change.
The word "stress" can immediately reinforce the feeling that something is happening to you.
The word "challenge" suggests that you have something you can engage with.
"Opportunity" introduces the possibility that something useful could emerge from the situation.
Aileda's point is not that changing a word magically eliminates difficult circumstances.
It is that language can influence perspective.
And perspective influences how we approach the problem.
From "It's Happening to Me" to "I'm Part of the Decision"
Joe captures an important aspect of this idea during the conversation: changing the language can move someone from feeling like something is happening to them toward becoming an active participant in the response.
That is a significant leadership shift.
Instead of:
"This situation is overwhelming me."
The question becomes:
"What can I do with this situation?"
Instead of:
"I'm under stress."
You might ask:
"What is the challenge in front of me?"
Instead of:
"Everything is going wrong."
You might ask:
"What decision needs to be made next?"
The circumstances may still be difficult.
But you have changed your position within the problem.
You are no longer simply reacting to the situation.
You are engaging with it.
Leadership Development Has to Be Personal
Aileda's Conscious Leadership Development system begins with a three-month program.
One reason for that timeframe is practical: people can become overwhelmed by the idea of committing to a long-term transformation program before they have experienced the benefits.
But there is another reason.
Changing behavior takes time.
Aileda describes using individualized weekly protocols during the early stages of the program. These protocols are customized according to the individual's needs, circumstances, and perspective.
That customization matters because two people can experience the same situation very differently.
What one person considers manageable may be overwhelming to another.
What motivates one leader may frustrate another.
What one person needs to change may be completely different from what another needs to change.
Effective leadership development therefore cannot always be reduced to a universal checklist.
The individual matters.
Your Personal Life and Professional Life Are Not Separate
One of Aileda's observations is particularly relevant to entrepreneurs and executives: personal and professional challenges inevitably intersect.
Leaders may like to imagine that they can leave personal problems at home and walk into the office unaffected.
In reality, people bring themselves with them.
If something is happening in a CEO's family life, it can affect concentration, patience, communication, energy, and decision-making.
Likewise, professional pressure can affect relationships and personal well-being.
This does not mean leaders need to disclose every personal issue at work.
It means they should recognize that leadership is performed by a whole person.
Ignoring the personal side does not make it disappear.
Reprogramming the Human Operating System
Aileda describes the three-month process as an opportunity to establish new behaviors and new ways of looking at situations.
She connects this to neuroplasticity—the brain's ability to adapt and develop new patterns.
Her emphasis is on practicing those patterns repeatedly rather than simply understanding them intellectually.
That distinction is important.
Knowing that you should remain calm is not the same as remaining calm when someone delivers bad news.
Knowing that you should communicate clearly is not the same as communicating clearly when you are angry.
Knowing that you should make thoughtful decisions is not the same as slowing down enough to think when everyone around you is demanding an immediate answer.
Leadership development becomes meaningful when knowledge becomes behavior.
Be Careful What You Let Program You
Aileda also challenges the way people consume information.
She uses news consumption as an example.
Constant exposure to alarming headlines can influence how people perceive the world. If the dominant messages entering your mind emphasize crisis, danger, and conflict, it can become difficult to maintain a balanced perspective.
Her suggestion is not to ignore reality.
It is to become more conscious about what you allow to occupy your attention.
Step away from the screen.
Go outside.
Talk to your neighbors.
Observe what is actually happening around you.
The point is to compare the world you are experiencing directly with the world being presented through a constant stream of information.
This is another form of conscious leadership: becoming aware of what is influencing your mental state.
Sometimes the Fastest Reset Is Outside
One of Aileda's simplest recommendations is also one of the most accessible.
Go outside.
Step away from technology.
Spend time in nature.
Take a walk.
Sit in a park.
Breathe.
She describes the potential value of green spaces and spending time in natural environments as a way to help shift a person's physical state.
The recommendation is intentionally simple.
You do not always need another productivity application, another meeting, or another piece of technology to change your state.
Sometimes you need less stimulation.
Sometimes you need distance from the screen.
Sometimes you need to give your mind and body an opportunity to reset.
For an executive spending twelve hours a day surrounded by devices, that can be surprisingly powerful.
A High-Level Leader Who Learned to Step Away
Aileda shares the story of an aerospace engineer with significant responsibility who initially resisted the idea of simply spending time outside.
His first reaction was essentially: What will people think if they see me walking around barefoot?
But over time, he began incorporating more time outdoors into his routine.
Eventually, he began sending Aileda photographs of himself sitting outside with a book, taking in the environment around him.
The transformation was not about becoming a different person.
It was about developing a different relationship with his environment and his own state.
That distinction is important.
Personal development does not always require a dramatic reinvention.
Sometimes it begins with a small behavior that changes the pattern of your day.
High Achievers Need More Than "Push Through"
The culture of high performance often rewards people for pushing through.
Keep going.
Work harder.
Stay late.
Get it done.
Don't stop.
That mindset can produce results.
But Aileda points out that constantly pushing yourself is not necessarily the same as functioning at your optimal level.
If you are perpetually forcing yourself through every decision, every problem, and every responsibility, the question becomes whether you are operating effectively—or simply surviving your workload.
High performance should not mean permanent internal pressure.
For leaders carrying significant responsibility, the ability to regulate themselves may actually make sustained performance more possible.
Conscious Leadership Starts Before You Lead Others
The deeper message behind Aileda's work is that leadership begins internally.
Before you can consistently lead a team through uncertainty, you need to understand what uncertainty does to you.
Before you can help employees remain calm, you need to understand how you respond to pressure.
Before you can make clear decisions during a crisis, you need to know what happens to your thinking when you are overwhelmed.
This is why self-leadership is not a soft concept.
It is an operational capability.
The leader is part of the system.
If the leader becomes reactive, the organization can become reactive.
If the leader remains clear, that clarity can influence the people around them.
Who Is Conscious Leadership For?
Aileda says her approach is particularly relevant for leaders whose decisions carry significant consequences.
That can include executives, entrepreneurs, aerospace professionals, finance leaders, cybersecurity professionals, and others responsible for mission-critical decisions.
She also sees particular value for younger leaders stepping into significant responsibility.
The challenge is not simply technical competence.
Someone may be highly intelligent, experienced, and technically capable while still struggling to manage themselves under pressure.
Leadership requires more than expertise.
It requires the ability to use that expertise effectively when the stakes are high.
Transformation Requires Willingness
There is another important qualification in Aileda's approach.
People have to want the development.
A company cannot necessarily force someone into personal transformation simply by assigning them to a training program.
If someone does not want to examine their own patterns, develop new behaviors, or approach life differently, the process may not work for them.
That is an important lesson for organizations.
Leadership development is not just something an HR department can check off a list.
Real development requires participation.
The individual has to be willing to become more conscious of how they operate.
A Better Way to Think About Stress
Aileda's message ultimately comes back to a simple shift in perspective.
Stress does not always have to be the label.
Challenge is another possibility.
Opportunity is another.
That does not mean pretending difficult situations are easy.
It means recognizing that the words we use can influence how we relate to the circumstances in front of us.
When pressure rises, try creating some space between the event and your response.
Pause.
Breathe.
Change your environment.
Step away from the screen.
Go outside.
Notice the language running through your mind.
Then ask:
What is actually happening?
What is within my control?
What decision needs to be made next?
That pause can create something extremely valuable for a leader: choice.
The Leadership Advantage Is Self-Awareness
Aileda Bailey's story offers a different definition of leadership.
Leadership is not simply having the most experience.
It is not having all the answers.
It is not being the loudest person in the room.
And it is not simply pushing harder when things become difficult.
Leadership begins with the ability to understand yourself well enough to choose how you respond.
That capability becomes particularly important when circumstances are changing faster than your plans.
The pandemic gave Aileda an extreme environment in which to discover this principle. But entrepreneurs and executives do not need a global crisis to benefit from it.
Every business has uncertainty.
Every leader eventually faces difficult decisions.
Every organization encounters unexpected problems.
The question is whether the leader has trained themselves to respond consciously when those moments arrive.
For entrepreneurs and business leaders looking to develop stronger systems, clearer thinking, better communication, and greater personal effectiveness, explore more conversations and resources at Glovisor.
Final Takeaway: Before You Lead the Business, Learn to Lead Yourself
The most powerful lesson from Aileda's conversation is that conscious leadership is not something you suddenly discover in the middle of a crisis.
It is something you develop before the crisis.
You learn how your system responds.
You become aware of your automatic patterns.
You practice changing your perspective.
You become more intentional with your language.
You create habits that help you regain clarity.
You learn when to step away.
And you train yourself to make decisions from a more conscious state.
The next time everything seems to be going wrong, the most important question may not be, "How do I fix everything?"
It may be:
"How am I responding to what is happening?"
Because when a leader can regulate themselves, create space for conscious choice, and remain clear under pressure, they do more than change their own experience.
They can change the way they lead everyone around them.