Your Top Performers Need You Too

This one’s for the design managers among you. Tools and techniques for amplifying the strongest individuals on your team, and how to help those who are struggling, without it consuming you.

Mar 19, 2025

As an empathetic leader, chances are you’ve built your career on spotting problems and making things better. Your instinct is to help. To step in and fix something yourself.

But when it comes to leading teams, especially at scale, there’s nuance in how to channel this impulse—and some counter-intuitive wisdom—to add the most value to your team overall.

Let’s dive in.

When someone is underperforming, it’s obvious. Maybe they miss deadlines, struggle in critiques, or they’re just visibly stuck. It can be tempting to jump in 1:1 and coach them through their challenge. But there’s a hidden cost. Every hour spent here is an hour not spent helping your strongest contributors thrive.

By definition, your strongest performers are often independent leaders who don’t need your attention. They create great work that drives important business outcomes without you. Think about it—when was the last time you put real effort into making your highest performers even better? Do they get your best coaching, or do you mostly just get out of their way?

I was reminded of this during a recent 9-box talent mapping exercise with a client. Which, if you’ve not come across it before, is a useful tool for assessing performance and potential across a team, although it’s key to work through with an HR partner or experienced colleague to make sure you’re checking for unconscious bias throughout. This post isn’t about the tool itself—it’s about what comes next following any sort of talent review.

An illustration of a fire in a clearing in the woods, started using a magnifying glass to focus light from the sun

Leverage and Opportunity Cost

A recent coffee with a friend reminded me of a parallel in business.

Let’s say you invest £1M in two companies.

Company A is struggling. It’s clear they need help, and you’re able to deliver exactly what they need. If you focus your attention here, you’ll get them to a reasonable level, enabling them to reach a £10M exit.

Company B is excelling. They’re hitting all their goals. They don’t need your help, but you can always find ways to add value. They’re on track to reach £50M, but your help could help them unlock a £100M exit.

Which would you choose to focus on?

While there might be other reasons to choose company A, the economic upside is clearly much stronger in company B.

The same principle applies to teams: we tend to pour energy into the areas that feel like fires to put out, but the biggest unlocks often come from fine-tuning what’s already working. This may feel counter-intuitive at times, but is often where your greatest leverage lies.

What Top Performers Actually Need

You might assume your top performers don’t need much. They deliver great work, hit their goals, and don’t ask for much support. But in practice, they still have untapped potential, and your involvement could make a bigger difference than you think.

Here are a few ways to unlock more from them:

Clarity and direction – Even the best people need an outside perspective. Perhaps there’s simply too much ambiguity slowing them down, or they’re a little removed from the bigger picture and how their work connects to it. If they’re moving fast and delivering, it’s worth asking: are they spending their time on the highest-value work? A tiny course correction could unlock an even bigger impact.
Personalised recognition – High performers may not ask for much, but understanding how to recognise their contributions in ways that resonate for them will make a huge difference in how they feel seen and valued. This could be as simple as regular shout outs, but if they’re consistently exceeding expectations why wait for the next performance cycle to update their pay or titling to reflect the value they add?
Growth opportunities — Just because someone’s great at 0 → 1 discovery work, doesn’t mean they want to spend all their time doing these sorts of projects. Understanding the type of work they’re most excited by and where that intersects with what your team needs can be a powerful combination for creating fresh and exciting new challenges for your best people.
Fewer distractions – While there’s a natural instinct to give these folks more. More responsibilities, projects or tasks. It’s essential to remove from their plate too. Taking away non-essential commitments can reduce the risk of burnout and maximise the value delivered to your top priorities. It can also be a great opportunity to level up those around your top performers through delegation.

Of course, not every high performer needs all of these things. But your job is to listen and understand what drives and motivates everyone across the team, especially your best people. Don’t just assume they’re fine because they’re doing well or not raising frustrations directly with you.

A simple diagram summarising the key points surrounding what top performers often need

How to Help Folks Who Are Struggling, Without Letting It Consume You

Struggling team members need help too of course. And all good leaders should absolutely find the best ways to support them. But there’s an opportunity to be intentional in how you do this, so that you don’t become the bottleneck.

Instead of defaulting to more 1:1 time, consider the following structural changes:

Change the project. Are they on a project that plays to their strengths? It could be the type or stage of the work. If not, could a project change unlock better results or build their confidence?
Change the team. Are they working well with their peers or would changing this up unlock new perspectives or growth?
Targeted training or coaching. Is this a skill gap or misaligned expectations? Some gaps are coachable or could be closed through targeted training, others might indicate a more fundamental mismatch.
Senior mentorship. Are they overwhelmed by ambiguity, complexity or a new domain? Pairing them with a seasoned IC might be more effective than doubling down on manager check-ins.
Reset expectations. Are they clear on their priorities and responsibilities? Resetting expectations together can help clarify the path forward, especially when they’re included as an active part of the process.
Help feedback land. Do they take feedback well? If not, dig in and really understand how to help feedback land for them, because without this it’s much harder to enable progress.

But my favourite question to consider in situations like these is:

What action would you take if you were about to head out on a 3-month sabbatical?

I like this because it forces you to adjust the environment and support structure surrounding an individual, and removes the dependency on you as a requirement to making this work, along with the risk of becoming a micromanager.

While you can always help 1:1, freeing up your commitments positions you to adapt as needs change, ensuring you’re consistently able to drive the greatest impact for your team. Because you’re the only one who really knows where the biggest opportunities are to drive improvement.

A simple diagram summarising the key points surrounding the actions you can take to help struggling team members

How to Allocate Attention to Your Team

The instinct to help where things are breaking is understandable. But if you want to maximise your impact, ask yourself:

Where do my strengths have the greatest leverage?
Where is my involvement unlocking the most value?
Am I spending time where my team is already delivering great work, or only where things feel broken?
How can I be proactive about enabling my highest performers, rather than assuming they’ll figure it out on their own?

And one last thing: be kind to yourself. It’s easy to finish any talent mapping exercise and feel like you’ve failed some of your team. If someone isn’t thriving, it must be because you didn’t set them up for success. Maybe. But leadership is complex, and you can’t control everything. Instead of dwelling on what you should have done, ask yourself: what have I learned that I can apply next time?