The biggest drain on high performers

💡 Turn insight into action. We saved you a seat.💡

Nothing drains a high performer faster than realizing their reward for excellence is cleaning up someone else’s incompetence.

I see it all the time.

A leader has someone on their team who isn’t pulling their weight. They know it. Everyone knows it.

The team member isn’t trying.
Or they don’t have the skills.
Or their attitude poisons the room.

And yet…the leader doesn’t do anything about it.

Not because the leader doesn’t care.
Because it’s hard.

We want to be fair.
We want to give people a chance.
We don’t want to be “that person.”

So we wait. We hope. We rationalize.

Maybe they’ll improve.
Maybe it’s just a phase.
Maybe it’s not that bad.

Meanwhile, something else is happening.

Your best people are watching you.

They’re the ones staying late.
Fixing the mistakes.
Carrying the extra load without being asked.

And at first, they don’t complain.

But over time, something shifts.

They start asking themselves questions they never used to ask:

“Why am I working this hard?”
“Does it even matter?”
“Is this what good performance gets me?”

They may not say it out loud.

But they feel it.

And once that feeling sets in, you don’t just have a performance problem…you have a trust problem.

Because when a leader allows poor performance to continue, the team doesn’t just question the person.

They question the leader.
They question you. 

Standards start to feel optional.
Accountability starts to feel selective.
And respect quietly erodes.

So let me say it: 

Avoiding accountability isn’t kindness.

It’s a decision.

A decision to let one person’s behavior affect everyone else.

A decision to ask your best people to carry more than their share.

A decision that slowly turns a team into a group of people walking on eggshells—careful not to say too much, careful not to rock the boat, careful not to be the only one who seems to care.

And that’s not a team.

That’s dysfunction.

I’ve had to sit with leaders in this moment—sometimes literally walking them through the conversation they know they need to have.

Reassuring them that it’s OK.

More than OK…necessary.

Because holding someone accountable isn’t about being harsh.

It’s about being responsible.

Responsible to the standard.
Responsible to the team.
Responsible to the people who are doing it right.

And sometimes, despite your best efforts…despite coaching, feedback, and time…

The right decision is to let someone go.

Not out of frustration.
Not out of anger.

But out of clarity.

Because protecting the team matters more than protecting your own comfort, your fear a hard decision.

There’s a thought from Patrick Lencioni that I come back to again and again: If your team cannot hold each other accountable to an agreed-upon standard, you don’t have a team. You have a group of people trying not to upset each other.

Your best people don’t just notice what you reward; they feel what you tolerate.

✅ Put the 2 Minute Tip into action…Become More Influential & Build A Culture Of Open Communication in our supportive online community ✅