Resilience is a key topic within professional services, particularly as firms contend with high-pressure workloads and the need to safeguard the wellbeing of their most valuable asset: their people. As part of London International Disputes Week 2025, Matt Fritzche (Partner and UK Claims & Disputes Leader at EY) led a panel discussion with Mark Lim (Partner and Head of Dispute Resolution), Alex Kelham (Partner & Co-Head of Sport, Commonwealth swimming gold medallist), Mark Hunter MBE (former World Champion and Olympic rowing gold medallist, People Advisory Services Manager at EY) and Hollie Pearne-Webb MBE (Olympic and Commonwealth hockey gold medallist and former GB hockey captain, Senior Consultant at EY) to explore how elite athletes achieve and sustain resilience. Their insights revealed tangible lessons that can help professional services professionals navigate stressful client demands and performance expectations more effectively.
A central theme raised by the athletes related to the mindset of continuous growth through structured feedback. In the sporting realm, formal debriefs after each performance are encouraged to reflect frequently on what worked well and what can be improved. This contrasts significantly with common practices in professional services, where projects often transition seamlessly from one matter to the next without sufficient pause to capture learnings. Implementing regular debriefs can foster an open culture, promoting development, whilst also ensuring mistakes are viewed as learning opportunities to grow from as opposed to episodes to bury or forget about. When professionals begin to treat constructive criticism as a tool for refinement - akin to how an athlete treats coaching - performance improvements and stronger team cohesion naturally follow.
Psychological safety was also highlighted as vital. In sport, creating a "high support, high challenge" environment allows athletes to trust each other and withstand setbacks without compromising motivation or performance. By adapting this principle in the workplace, leadership teams can reduce or eliminate the stigma around vulnerability to workload pressures, mistakes or mental health challenges. Professional service environments benefit from a culture where team members feel comfortable discussing issues openly, identifying potential challenges early, and seeking assistance where needed. Open conversations ultimately reduce stress-related attrition and enable more consistent delivery of quality work. As was noted, it is through open dialogue, self-reflection and understanding that people learn how to perform at their best when the stakes are highest - be it in an Olympic final or (for litigation professionals) at trial.
The concept of "peak performance" also resonates strongly in the legal profession. Elite athletes plan meticulously for periods when they must reach their peak to perform at the highest level, such as a major tournament or the Olympic or Commonwealth Games. They calibrate training loads, monitor health metrics and factor in appropriate recovery. In professional services, however, the business culture often compels people to work at maximal capacity for significant periods, irrespective of prevailing conditions or well-being. If this is not managed effectively, it can lead to burnout or at least suboptimal performance. Borrowing from athletic practice, individuals and teams should identify when a major matter, trial, or project is likely to consume elevated time and energy, plan for that peak period and build in activities to help decompress.
Ultimately, the panel's collective experiences illustrated that resilience in high-performance environments demands the institution to build an effective framework to deliver a conscious and continuous approach to feedback, a supportive culture and a mindful approach to management of peak demands. Individuals working in high-pressure environments should take responsibility for their own well-being. This includes taking time to rest, eat well and exercise.
Lewis Silkin is a signatory to the Mindful Business Charter, which is a practical framework that encourages us to be more thoughtful about the impact that working practices have on colleagues. More information can be found here.
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