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Pressure Profile Analysis

Your role & context

Let's start with
where you sit.

We work with people who operate close to the centre of gravity — where the real decisions get made and where the weight is rarely shared equally.

How would you describe your current role?

Chief of Staff or Deputy Chief of Staff
Head of Operations, Strategy, or Special Projects
Director or VP with an org-wide mandate (not purely functional)
Founder-adjacent or second-in-command (not a co-founder)
Something else — but I'm close to where decisions really get made

Please select an option to continue.

How long have you been in your current role?

Less than a year — still finding my footing
1–2 years — past the learning curve, in the thick of it
2–4 years — I know the terrain, and that creates its own pressure
4+ years — I'm the institutional memory and the change agent simultaneously

Please select an option to continue.

Pressure profile

What does the weight actually feel like?

This is the part most diagnostics skip. We don't.

When you think about the pressure you carry, what feels most accurate?

Select all that apply.

The hardest work I do is invisible to most people
I'm constantly translating between what leadership wants and what the org can do
I'm rarely the loudest voice in the room but often the most consequential
There's no one in my org who fully understands what this role requires
I can see exactly what's needed but I'm not always the one with authority to act
My identity and my role have started to blur
The pace means I rarely get time to think — I'm mostly reacting
The people around me are growing. I'm not sure I am.

Please select at least one.

How often do you have a genuine peer — someone who truly gets your world — to think out loud with?

1
2
3
4
5
Rarely or neverOften

Please select a number.

When you make a judgment call, what's typically at stake?

Mostly process or efficiency — mistakes are recoverable
Relationships and momentum — missteps set things back significantly
Strategic direction — my read of a situation shapes what the org does next
People's livelihoods, safety, or sense of belonging

Please select an option to continue.

What you're working toward

Where's the growth edge?

Not what your org needs from you — what you actually want for yourself as a leader.

If you could shift one thing about how you operate, what would it be?

Select all that apply.

Think more clearly under pressure
Have the hard conversations I keep deferring
Stop absorbing what belongs to others
Operate with clearer boundaries without losing influence
Build systems that don't depend on me holding everything together
Develop the leaders around me, not just manage them
Find my own voice — separate from the principal's
Reconnect to why any of this matters to me personally

Please select at least one.

How does your organization view leadership development?

It's embedded in our culture — investment in people is a given
I'd have to advocate for it, but I'd likely get support
I tend to invest in my own development — on my own terms and budget
I'm honestly not sure how they'd respond

Please select an option to continue.

What's the thing about your current situation that you rarely say out loud?

Optional — but often the most useful signal. This stays in your file as a private note, not a data field.

Your responses go directly to the Upside Partners team. We don't share or sell your information.