Performance Punishment & Work Hard Play Hard Productively

Read time: 5 minutes

Last week, I met with my old friend Ali Abdaal, and we had a great discussion about productivity, and how to approach it the right way. Read it here.​

Productivity is core to my view on the Science of Success because central to my entire philosophy is to work hard, play hard and really earn your time off.

We all unwind in different ways, and variety is something I crave - I'm a high energy kind of guy powered by the world's greatest supplements, so 5 days at Glastonbury with my best friends - was just what the doctor ordered after a few very intense months (more on that in a moment).

To be truly free to enjoy these experiences, it's about making sure you earn your time off - and that's all about prioritising your productivity.

Here were my priorities in the week before I left - to give you an idea of my current 'busyness' - and I'm sharing this not to promote some kind of toxic productivity but instead to point out I dont think anyone is too busy to have fun and take whatever time off you deserve.

1. We launched Magnesium at Heights - and doubled our target!

2. We kicked off a new funding round for Heights - we had to make a new deck - and have a bunch of investor meetings - which have gone so well so quickly that we've verbally got the whole £2M round committed already... 👀 here's a sneak peak of the summary page from our deck

3. Got 3 new job ads live for Secret Leaders as I take that company into it's new evolution as a Youtube company - I'm hiring a marketing and social manager, an editor, a business development and ops manager and have already hired our producer (one down, three to go!) Reply if you want to see these job ads.

4. Completed the successful sale of my other podcast on financial literacy and education, Making Money. Congrats to it's new owners, Will and Damo - good luck to you both! This sale has given me the extra firepower to invest in a bigger team and a new studio to take Secret Leaders to another level....

By getting all those things completed - I was able to go totally carefree to Glastonbury and enjoy my greatest accomplishment of all - 50K steps a day for 4 days (equivalent of a marathon). Don't worry as we're doing photos this week, here's my evidence.

That was last week, but this week....

Already started with a bang.

1. Shooting with Jake Humphrey - Here's a behind the scenes as we shoot our first ever podcast ad for High Performance Podcast.

2. Shooting with Spencer Matthews right before he goes into the desert for his new challenge - 30 marathons in 30 consecutive days, a world record and he's been told by his coach and nutrition team, he has to take Heights - so obvs we're making the most of that with some great new content on its way.....

3. Interviewing Hermann Hauser today (assuming you're reading this on a Thursday), I'm hosting the Foundrs community summer party with a private interview with Hermann Hauser - the founder of ARM. ARM are the highest valued British company at £145BN - overtaking Intel and 2nd only to NVIDIA in the AI chip game. Not bad Hermann - I'll let you know how that goes.

4. Another long weekend away (this time with the family). Heading to Silverstone VIP courtesy of Jake Humphrey (hope my 2 year old enjoys F1!) and then Center Parcs til Monday night....

So this brings me to the main topic - how to get work done across all these companies without burning out - and it made me think of a topic I came across with regards to managing teams and looking after your best employees - after all - let's be honest, they are the ones really doing the work. Welcome to the world of 'performance punishment'. More on that, after this short SOS break.

​LinkedIn of the week: The 12 Principles Of Great Leadership​

Podcast of the week: A Business without a business with Timothy Armoo​

​My Tweet of the week: How to boost your focus permanently. RT it here.​

Performance punishment.

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As a leader, it's easy to fall into the trap of overloading your top performers with more work, but this short-sighted approach can lead to disastrous consequences.

The Perils of Performance Punishment​
David Neal, a renowned leadership expert, advises that being good at your job often attracts more work. He calls this phenomenon 'performance punishment,' and it's a dangerous game for leaders to play.
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Here is his post that explains it:

1. Burnout: Your top talent may become overwhelmed and tired, which will lead to decreased productivity and job satisfaction.

2. Resentment: Overworked employees may feel unfairly treated, particularly if they see their less-productive colleagues getting away with doing less.

3. Turnover: High-performers may start looking for work elsewhere if they feel reprimanded for their achievements, leaving you with an exhausted team.

The Pitfalls of Neglecting Under-Performers

Furthermore, neglecting to develop and grow your under-performers can also have serious ramifications.

1. Stunted Growth: By neglecting their growth, you're denying them the chance to grow and reach their full potential.

2. Lowered Morale: Under-performers who feel ignored or overlooked may become disengaged and lower team morale.

3. Missed Opportunities: You may be missing out on hidden talents or skills that could help your organisation if given the proper attention and guidance.

Finding the Balance / Key Takeways

So, how can you avoid the performance punishment trap while still ensuring your team is productive and successful? Here are a few key strategies:

1. Distribute work fairly: Make sure everyone has a balanced workload and a chance to take on new challenges.

2. Develop all team members: Invest in training and coaching for both high- and low-performers to help them grow and succeed.

3. Recognize and reward wisely: Find methods for recognizing top performers that don't merely involve more work, such as public praise, extra cash, or leadership roles.

By following these guidelines, you can create a team culture that fosters growth, engagement, and long-term success.

Your Challenge

This week, I want you to think about how you distribute work and recognize performance within your team.

Ask yourself:

• Are my best performers showing signs of burnout or resentment?
• What can I do to support and develop my underperformers?
• What methods can I employ to recognize accomplishments without overwhelming my best team members?

Remember, as a leader, it's your responsibility to create an environment where everyone can thrive and contribute their best. By being mindful of performance punishment and taking steps to prevent it, you'll be well on your way to building a stronger, more resilient team.

Until next time,

Dan,

P.S. If you found this newsletter valuable, please share it with a fellow leader who could benefit from these insights. Together, we can create more balanced, successful teams!

PSS: Follow Secret Leaders on Linkedin right now if you are keen to build a new Youtube channel, stay on top of our job postings over the next few weeks...

1-1 Coaching with Dan

In my goal to help more entrepreneurs/people who are looking to level up their careers, I've just started taking 1-1 consulting calls (only 1 a week)

Why book a call? Some of my expertise/success:

I've built 5 startups. 1 win, 1 fail, and 3 still going.

E Commerce: Heights — with revenue over $10M a year.

Community: Foundrs, one of the UK's top founder communities

Podcasting: Kindling Media - bootstrapped media company that makes the UK's top business podcasts, like Making Money and Secret Leaders, with over 50M downloads.

Health/Mental Health: Managed to overcome burnout, insomnia, depression & anxiety in pursuit of success as I talk about in my interview with Steven Bartlett on Diary of a CEO​

Angel Investing: I've invested in over 85 startups

Coached & Mentored: Certified coach & done lots of mentoring

Personal Brand: Have grown to 100k on LinkedIn and X (Twitter) in the past 12 months

So if you're interested in booking a session with me to talk all things business or building a personal brand, book for 30-minutes or 45-minutes. (limited spots).

Science of Success Vault

I'm building a vault of valuable tools, resources, and one sheets that I hope help you succeed.

These will be stored in the ever-growing 'Science of Success' vault — you can always access that here

Want to take your success (even more) seriously? 👇​
🧠 Fuel your brain and feed your gut, try Heights here (use code 'SOSDMS' for 15% off your first month of any subscription

🎧 Check out my podcast Secret Leaders here​

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