It's not the Peter Principle

Many leaders have that moment in their career when they wonder if they’ve gone one step too far.

They did brilliantly in their previous role and now work feels harder, their feedback is less positive and relationships at work are strained.

This experience is often explained by the Peter Principle: the idea that people are promoted to their highest level of incompetence.

But I don’t believe that’s what’s happening.

The Peter Principle was shaped in the 1960s, a time when we didn’t understand the brain, stress, psychological safety, or how people learn under pressure.

What I see, 50 years on, is something different.

Capable experts step into roles that are asking for a different approach and a different level of thinking at exactly the moment that pressure increases and support drops away. Under sustained pressure, your brain stops learning and your behaviour reverts back to old habits. Leaders protect themselves from exposure with survival behaviours and old ways of working.

That’s not incompetence.
That’s the brain in survival mode

That's what learning under pressure, with a lack of the right support, looks like.

In this session we’ll explore:

• why increased challenge without support impacts on your chances of success
• how stress affects behaviour and judgement
• why asking for the right kind of support is a sign of great leadership, not weakness

We’ll also explore why you can become more isolated as challenge increases, and what actually helps you successfully step into bigger roles.

Who is this session for

This session is for:

• capable leaders who’ve stepped into more senior roles
• people who want to lead well under pressure
• people who sense they are not thriving in the way that they used to at work
• leaders and HR partners who want a more human way of supporting performance

What we will cover

1. Why promotion can feel harder than expected
A look at what changes as roles become more visible and more exposed.

2. The story we tell about struggle (and why it’s unhelpful)
We’ll examine the Peter Principle as a common explanation for difficulty after promotion, and why it misses what’s really going on in.

3. Pressure, stress, and behaviour at senior levels
How sustained pressure affects judgement, learning, and decision-making — and why people often revert to what used to work, even when the job has changed.

4. Why support drops as challenge increases
We’ll explore the isolation that often comes with seniority, and what happens when leaders have fewer safe spaces to think, reflect, and learn.

5. Asking for help as a leadership skill
We'll reframe support as an advanced leadership skill rather than a signal of weakness and we'll identify what “the right kind of help” looks like at senior levels.

6. Making sense of your own transition
There will be time to reflect and discuss, at whatever level feels comfortable, your own experiences and identify what is needed to support your professional growth.

3 reasons why this is your next must-attend event

1. Make sense of why senior roles feel harder than expected
Understand what actually changes as responsibility, visibility, and pressure increase — without defaulting to “maybe I’m not cut out for this”.

2. Rethink the Peter Principle for today’s leadership reality
Explore why difficulty after promotion is so often mislabelled as failure, and how pressure and lack of support shape behaviour far more than ability alone.

3. Reframe support as a leadership skill, not a weakness
See why asking for the right kind of help enables clearer judgement, learning, and growth — especially as roles become more senior and isolating.

Meet your host

Amanda Cookson

Amanda has over 20 years’ experience in the education and edtech sectors, where she led award-winning, multi-site teams through periods of growth, change, and uncertainty.

She combines this leadership experience with over a decade of professional coaching practice, supporting leaders in professional services roles across UK universities as they step into more senior, exposed positions.

Amanda’s work focuses on helping capable experts become trusted strategic partners as the demands of leadership increase.

You can connect with Amanda via Linkedin AmandaCookson

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“Amanda is exceptional. She has a rare ability to explain complex psychology in a way that feels completely accessible and immediately relevant. The session was thoughtful, practical, and genuinely shifted how I think about leadership and behaviour at work.”

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“This was one of the most impactful leadership sessions I’ve attended. Amanda brings deep expertise, warmth, and clarity, and creates a space where you can think properly rather than feel judged. I left with a new lens I’m already using in my role.”

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“Amanda is a brilliant facilitator and thinker. She combines neuroscience, real-world experience, and compassion in a way that makes everything click. I’ve been leading people for years, and this session gave me insights I wish I’d had much earlier.”