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When numbers slip, most leaders turn up the pressure. In this episode of Calm Under Quota, Steven Werley breaks down the Stoic move that prevents panic leadership: diagnose reality before you demand more effort.

Steven shares a real coaching scene where a rep hadn’t closed a deal in 60 days. The easy move was blame. The better move was diagnosis. Using Epictetus as the lens, you’ll learn how to test your first impression, reduce uncertainty fast, and separate a “rep problem” from a “system problem.”

You’ll walk away with three diagnostic questions, a simple 60-second checklist to run before any high-pressure conversation, and a team standard you can implement immediately: diagnose with evidence before demanding more effort

Chapters / Time Markers
00:25 — Show intro
01:05 — The leader question: diagnose before you demand
01:55 — The scene: what was really blocking revenue
07:30 — Why pressure feels like action (and why it fails)
08:45 — Stoic lens #1 (Epictetus): expose the mistaken belief
11:20 — Role design vs “bad attitude”
12:40 — Stoic lens #2 (Epictetus): the problem is your judgment
15:10 — Catching overreaction in real time
16:30 — Leader move: understand reasoning before you react
18:10 — The cost of demanding first
19:20 — Practice: the 60-second diagnosis checklist
20:40 — Team standard
21:20 — How to move forward

Brought to you by https://closable.ai

Rather read it as a blog post? https://closable.ai/resources/diagnose-before-you-demand/

Rather watch the video? https://youtu.be/3-yev9z47ss

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When sales performance drops, it’s easy to confuse urgency with pressure. Your body feels it, your mind starts telling stories, and if you’re not careful that stress turns into leadership thrash.

In this episode of Calm Under Quota, I share a real moment from my sales agency. Our show rate fell under 40%, my heart rate spiked, and my first instinct was control. I wanted to push pressure downhill and tell the team to “do better.” Instead, I slowed down and looked at what was actually true.

The inputs were broken. SDR answer rate was just over 4%, and it worked out to roughly one set per 200 dials. That’s not a motivation problem. That’s a math problem. It’s the kind of problem that makes good people look bad if you don’t diagnose it first.

We use a Stoic lens from Marcus Aurelius to separate facts from stories, narrow back to what’s in your control as a leader, and avoid wasting energy on anger at what already happened. You’ll leave with one leader move, a tiny 3-step check you can run before you react, and a standard to hold when everyone wants answers fast.

Timestamps
00:00 Show rate drops and the urge to push pressure downhill
00:19 Calm Under Quota intro (who this is for)
01:10 The leader question: pressure without panic
01:33 The scene: inputs are broken, fear spikes, then the data
05:04 Stoic lens #1: anger at what happened doesn’t help
07:51 Stoic lens #2: people don’t see reality cleanly
10:28 The leader move: facts before stories
11:59 The practice: 3-step check before you react
13:07 The standard: facts before stories
13:26 Closable.ai: AI-enabling sales teams (close)

Brought to you by Closable.ai. We AI-enable sales teams so leadership gets clearer, not louder.