CSO Event: From Punches to Pivots: Reframing CSO Stress for High-Pressure Times

Mike Tyson said, “Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face”. Today, punches can feel like they’re coming from every angle, and no matter how much you prepare or how much you get done it can feel like it’s never enough.

Tight deadlines, evolving regulations, more advanced cybersecurity threats, AI, third-party vendor risks, workforce shortages, balancing risk mitigation with demands for user friendliness, escalating financial crimes, identity management, access controls…There are a lot of punches coming at you. But they don’t have to knock you out.

In this interactive session, Dr. Rachel Boehm will share Science-Backed, People-Proven™ strategies to turn these pressures into a pivot for growth. This isn’t about being more resilient so you can take on more duties or managing stress so you can patch yourself up and get back in the ring. It’s about discovering your signature stress adaptation: how it starts, why it starts, and how to reframe it, so it builds confidence, drives productive action, and strengthens relationships rather than exhaustion, self-doubt, poor decision-making, or unhealthy conflict.

The session will equip you with practical, no-cost tools to help you focus on what you can control, minimize costly errors, and transform stress from a liability into a strategic advantage.

 Key Takeaways

• Identify at least three human dynamics that can undermine your response to stress.
• Assess one past work situation where your stress response made the situation worse, and outline how you would respond differently based on the presented methods.
• Explain two strength “derailers” and how stress can impair cognitive performance, trust in leadership, and risk management.

Speakers: Dr. Rachel Boehm, Organizational Behavior Specialist, rachelboehm.com

Dr. Rachel is an organizational behavior specialist running a modern change management firm. She helps service-based companies understand the personalities in the room so they can predict and transform behavior in the workplace during times of business transitions (M&A, leadership changes, RIFs, restructuring) or the constant pivots increasingly required throughout the workday (fast paced, high stakes, shifting deadlines and priorities). Dr. Rachel leverages Science-Backed, People-Proven™ strategies to improve the way people naturally respond to change and stress, so people don’t become bottlenecks. As a result, clients enjoy improved morale, engagement, team cohesion, leader-staff dynamics, retention and recruitment, and a culture of sustainable high performance.

This session was originally presented 12 March 2026.

Session open to CSO Center Members Only. Please be sure you are fully logged in once on this page to access the registration button. For more information about the CSO Center or for assistance, please contact [email protected].

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