Performance OR supportive culture? The unnecessary balancing act.

"How do I balance performance with a great culture?"

This is one of the questions I am asked most by leaders, and it's one that is easily answered. The premise is all wrong - it assumes performance and culture are in competition with each other when actually, a strong culture is the foundation for performance.

A supportive culture which gives everyone the best chance at performance doesn't mean protecting your employees' feelings or avoiding difficult conversations. It does mean:

• Being brave, clear and fair.

• Having the right conversations when performance isn't where it needs to be.

• Asking what help people need to perform, and being clear on what help you'll give.

• Partnering with people to get to high performance.

High levels of psychological safety drive performance: that means taking risks with each other and having respectful, compassionate conversations about what's working and what's not.

A supportive environment is one where your people think, "my leader does what's right, not what's easy." If your people can be confident about this, discretionary effort and followership are assured.

Choose a more powerful path