Zak Brown: F1 Racing, Leading Under Pressure, and Split-Second Decisions
Zak Brown: F1 Racing, Leading Under Pressure, and Split-Second Decisions  
Podcast: Leading Up: The Work Shift
Published On: Tue Dec 09 2025
Description: How do you make a quick decision when the stakes are high? Zak Brown, CEO of McLaren Racing, shares hard-won lessons from his journey from professional driver to marketing entrepreneur to Formula One executive. Zak reveals why asking questions matters more than having all the answers, how he learned to control emotional reactions that could have derailed his racing career, and what Formula One can teach anyone about decision-making under pressure. He discusses the parallels between driving at 200mph and leading 1,400 people, why sleep and attention to detail are underrated skills, and how embracing failure accelerates learning.  Follow Leading Up: The Work Shift on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen. New episodes drop Tuesdays.  If you’re trying to skill up, head to Udemy.com  Find out more about Leading Up: The Work Shift at business.udemy.com/leading-up-podcast Subscribe to our Substack: workshifthappens.substack.com  Learn more about Zak’s new book: Seven Tenths of a Second: Life, Leadership and Formula 1  Leading Up: The Work Shift is produced by Udemy in partnership with  Pod People.