You're not tired from leading. You're tired from defending.
A 60-minute live session for senior leadership teams with Andrew Sillitoe
Your senior leaders are performing.
Not just at work. Everywhere. In meetings. At home. Even when they're alone.
They carry pressure well. They decide quickly. They hold it together. But the vigilance never quite switches off. Rest doesn't restore them. The best people around them have stopped pushing back. And something stays tight — even when things are going well.
This isn't burnout. It's defence. And most leadership development doesn't touch it.
Your leaders will:
- Name the voice that's been running them.
- Understand why rest doesn't restore them.
- See why no one tells them the truth anymore.
- Recognise the cost they've been paying without naming it.
- Find an approach that doesn't require them to be broken to begin.
Presence Under Pressure is a live 60-minute session
Delivered by Andrew Sillitoe — a former international athlete, executive coach, and author who spent 17 years working with leaders before realising most of them weren't tired from the work. They were tired from defending.
This is not a motivational talk. It's not resilience training. It's not therapy.
It introduces a simple framework — four voices that every leader carries — and gives your team the language to recognise what's driving their decisions, their tension, and their exhaustion.
Nothing is fixed. Everything is noticed.
Who this is for
Senior leadership teams operating under sustained responsibility.
Founders and CEOs who carry more than they show.
Organisations that want something deeper than resilience training — something their leaders would actually respect.
HR and L&D leaders who are tired of watching their best people perform instead of lead.
What this not
A motivational talk. A wellness programme. A team-building exercise. A therapy session. Another framework to implement.
This is 60 minutes of psychological precision — delivered quietly, without slides, without jargon, and without asking anyone to share what they're not ready to share.
Format
Duration: 60 minutes
Delivery: Live virtual session, or in-person at your location
Audience: Up to 30 senior leaders per session
Facilitation: Andrew Sillitoe
About Andrew
Andrew Sillitoe is a former international athlete and Team GB coach who spent 17 years coaching leaders and athletes before realising most of them weren't tired from the work. They were tired from defending.
After losing his father at 16 and his brother in 2022, Andrew moved to Prague and began walking by the Vltava River. He started writing short dialogues between four voices — the Stag, the Rat, the Wren, and the River. Those dialogues became the foundation of his work with founders and executives carrying sustained responsibility.
He is the author of The River: Eight Dialogues for Men Who Are Tired of Holding It Together and the creator of the Presence Under Pressure methodology.
Some leaders travel to Prague to walk by the river with him for a day. Others bring him into their organisations. The work is the same: notice what you're defending, and discover what's possible when you stop.
Book a session for your leadership team.
One session. 60 minutes. No commitment beyond that.
If your leaders recognise something — and they will — we can talk about what comes next.