Andrew May - Workplace Performance Coach, Author & Keynote

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Andrew May - Workplace Performance Coach, Author & Keynote

Andrew May is The Expert in Workplace Performance & Productivity. // Coach. Author. Keynote // LIKE For Inspiration On The Way You Think, Work, Eat & Move.

10/09/2026

Two people can experience the exact same situation and have completely different responses. One sees pressure as a threat. The other sees it as a challenge. The workload hasn't changed. The deadline hasn't changed. The interpretation has. That's important because our perception of pressure influences our physiology, emotions and behaviour. When people believe pressure is something happening to them, performance often declines. When people view pressure as something they can navigate, capacity tends to increase. The way we interpret events often matters as much as the events themselves.

04/09/2026

We use the word burnout a lot, and I think we use it too loosely.

Sometimes you’re not burnt out. You’re tired, under-recovered or operating without enough capacity for what you’re asking yourself to do.

I’ve experienced that more than once.

My warning signs are pretty predictable now: concentration gets harder, I lose some of my creative edge and I find it difficult to properly switch off.

The problem is that I can still function pretty well while all of that is happening.

That’s what makes depletion so easy to rationalise.

Jessica Spendlove described the progression as “whispers, nudges and pushes” when we recorded the podcast recently. It immediately resonated.

I’ve written more about my own experience, why being able to tolerate a high workload shouldn’t be confused with sustainable capacity and why knowing your own early signs matters.

Latest blog via the link: https://performanceintelligence.com/signs-of-depletion-high-performers/

03/09/2026

If I asked a room full of leaders how they measure capability, I'd get plenty of answers.

If I asked how they measure capacity, most would pause.

Yet capacity is often the factor that determines whether capability can be used effectively in the first place.

The ability to absorb pressure.
Manage competing priorities.
Make quality decisions.
Lead through uncertainty.
Sustain performance over time.

Most organisations know exactly how to identify capability.

Qualifications.
Experience.
Technical expertise.
Leadership potential.

Capacity receives far less attention.

Yet two leaders with similar capability can produce very different outcomes because one has the capacity to perform under pressure and the other doesn't.

As workplaces become increasingly complex, capacity is becoming one of the most important leadership differentiators.

Capability might get someone the role.

Capacity often determines whether they thrive in it.

01/09/2026

Six weeks. One cohort. Real change. ⚡

We just wrapped the Mental Agility course with the Performance Edge group and the engagement from this team has been incredible.

Over six weeks leaders went deep on:

🧠 Understanding the brain under pressure
💪 Optimum physiology and physical foundations of performance
🪞 Personal identity and how it shapes responses to feedback
🌊 Emotional regulation and staying effective when it counts
📈 Learning effectiveness and making new behaviours stick
🛡️ Hardiness and sustained psychological resilience

The feedback has been strong. But more importantly, people are thinking and operating differently. That's what Mental Agility is designed to do.

Not awareness. Behaviour change. ✅

Proud of this group. The real work starts now. 🙌

Click the link to find out more. 👇

https://performanceintelligence.com/performance-intelligence-academy/mental-agility/

28/08/2026

How do you train leaders to adapt when change does not stop?

That is the question Jacqui Louder and I have been working on for the past six months.

We began with resilience, but the word was too broad for what we wanted leaders to practice. Mental Agility gave us something more specific: the ability to adjust your thinking and response as conditions change, without losing your judgement or standards.

This matters as AI accelerates work. Leaders need to know what to trust, what to question and when to change direction.

I’ve written about the six-part learning pathway we developed together.

Blog link in bio.

27/08/2026

Every leader I work with wants more time. More time to think. More time with family. More time for strategy. More time to focus on what matters. But what's interesting is that many people already have more time available than they realise. The issue is that their energy is fragmented. They spend their week reacting, context switching and operating without intention. One of the reasons we built the Better Week framework was to help people reclaim both energy and time. Because when energy improves, priorities become clearer. When priorities become clearer, people stop spending time on things that don't matter. The result isn't simply more energy. It's often the feeling of having more time as well.

17/08/2026

Before my first session with the Wallabies, the thoughts were there: I've never played rugby at that level, so what am I doing here? The shift wasn't confidence arriving, it was remembering I was there to help them perform, not to prove myself.

I wrote about that shift, and a much bigger one broadcaster Christian O'Connell described to me from the hardest night of his career.

https://performanceintelligence.com/shift-state-under-pressure/

10/08/2026

I’ve practised fasting for years, but one of the biggest things it taught me had nothing to do with weight.

Eat, then fast. Lift, then recover. Stress the system, then let it adapt.

Human performance needs contrast.

I found fasting difficult at first. As a former athlete, I'd been trained to fuel constantly. Over time, I learned I could sit with hunger without immediately acting on it.

I think that discipline transfers directly into how we work and lead. We’re very good at doing. Loading. Responding. Staying on.

We’re often much less disciplined about stopping.

Sustainable performance needs a pulse, not a flat line.

I’ve written more about it.

https://performanceintelligence.com/it-is-not-what-you-do/

06/08/2026

Most people think recovery is something you earn after a period of hard work. Elite performers think differently. They see recovery as part of the performance plan. The best athletes don't wait until they're injured to look after themselves. The best leaders don't wait until they're exhausted. They understand that recovery protects decision quality, emotional regulation, creativity and focus. One of the biggest shifts leaders can make is moving from reactive recovery to proactive recovery. Don't wait until performance declines. Build recovery into the system before it's needed. That's often what separates sustainable high performers from everyone else.

30/07/2026

When pressure rises, complexity becomes expensive. Yet many leaders respond to pressure by adding more. More meetings. More reporting. More communication. More initiatives. The highest-performing teams I've worked with tend to do the opposite. They simplify. They identify what matters most and direct attention there. Under pressure, people don't need more information. They need more clarity. Clarity reduces cognitive load. It improves decision-making. It helps people execute with confidence. In high-pressure environments, clarity isn't a nice-to-have. It becomes a performance advantage.

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