Have you ever felt pressure to produce, even when you know you have what it takes?

I was talking to a friend of mine, Bruce, who is also, like me, an amateur musician. Don’t get me wrong, we’ve both played professionally in the past. But now we all have full-time careers outside of music, although we still play with bands every chance we get.

Bruce was telling me about a time a few years ago when he was visiting a friend of his, and the friend suggested they go to a blues jam. For the uninitiated, this is where the house band encourages (or sometimes just tolerates) other musicians to sit in with them. Bruce plays the harmonica (quite well), and his friend suggested that he bring his harps (that’s what musicians call harmonicas) with him. Bruce was a bit reluctant, but eventually agreed.

Now, typical protocol for a “guest” musician is to wait until the band takes a break and then politely ask if they would mind if he or she sits down for a song. But unknown to Bruce, his friend had been pestering the band non-stop: “Hey, let my friend play. My friend plays the harmonica. He’s really good. You should let my friend play.” So when the bandleader finally announced, “Apparently there’s a guy here who wants to play the harmonica, so come over here,” he didn’t sound very welcoming. In fact, he sounded angry.

Imagine that pressure. You go onstage to play with a band that doesn’t want you there, in front of an audience that now thinks you’re an idiot. Although none of this was Bruce’s fault, he told me that he felt extreme pressure to produce.

Fortunately, Bruce can play. The phrase in the music business is that he “has chops.” And if there’s one thing musicians respect, he’s another musician who has skills. As Bruce started to leave after the only song by him, the bandleader grabbed him and said, “No, no…stay here.”

After that, Bruce felt no pressure. Because he had passed the audition. He had shown that he has abilities.

This is what I call First Time Pressure. You’ve probably felt it. Maybe not in a blues club, but how about that first day at the new job? How about the first time he led a team? How about your first crisis in the workplace?

It’s the pressure of having a skeptical team (or audience) look to an unproven entity (you) to produce results.

Your job, at that point, is to pass the audition. It’s to show the team that you have skills. And here’s something important: you don’t have to dazzle them. You just have to show them that you can handle yourself, that you can get ahead, that you can produce, when results matter. When you do that, you earn the respect of the band, of the team.

But you have to have chops first. You have to have competition. You have to be good.

When you’re a leader, especially in a new situation, pressure is only part of the territory. The key to handling First Time Pressure is to first realize that it is natural; and, second, knowing that you have the skills to handle it.