Lead To Grow

How long should you tolerate underperformance before it starts hurting your team, your customers and you?In this episode of Lead to Grow, Tommy Sim explains why underperformance drags on, how performance debt quietly builds, and the three moves that turn frustration into a fair, clear management process.Underperformance rarely looks like a crisis at the start. It looks like patience. A late client update, a thin handover, the same correction turning up again next month. Tommy shows why the emotion builds faster than the management process, and why patience without a process is just avoidance.IN THIS EPISODE- Why underperformance starts as patience and ends as a leadership problem- Frustration at nine out of ten, process at two: the gap that leaves managers stuck- Performance debt: how small gaps compound and who quietly pays the interest- Why avoiding the conversation is a false kindness- Move 1: define the standard and describe the gap in facts, not labels- Move 2: the four out of ten conversation, and why to have it earlier than feels comfortable- Clarity, capability or commitment: diagnose before you judge- Why to What: the one word change that stops people getting defensive- Move 3: build a written improvement pathway with a review rhythm- A simple test: is the problem the person, or the management around them?WHO THIS IS FOR Business owners, managers and team leaders who have someone drifting, a team that is quietly picking up the slack, and a conversation they keep putting off.YOUR TURNWhat is the longest you have tolerated underperformance before acting, and what finally made you move? Tell us in the comments.A NOTE ON ADVICEThis episode covers the leadership problem that shows up long before the legal one. If a situation is formal, unsafe or heading towards termination, get advice that fits your facts and your jurisdiction.ABOUT INJECTInject is an HR company trusted by Australian small to medium businesses since 2013.Website: https://www.inject.com.au/ LinkedIn: https://au.linkedin.com/company/injecthrABOUT LEAD TO GROW Lead to Grow explores the people principles behind high performing businesses. Hosted by Tommy Sim, the podcast focuses on leadership, performance, culture and decision making, with practical insights leaders can apply immediately. New episodes are released regularly. Follow the show on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, or subscribe on YouTube for future episodes.#LeadToGrow #Underperformance #PerformanceManagement #Leadership #PeopleManagement

Have you ever explained something clearly, only to discover later that the person completely missed the point?

In this episode of Lead to Grow, Tommy Sim challenges a common leadership assumption: that poor listening is simply an attention problem. Instead, he argues that most people aren't failing to listen because they don't care, they're struggling because their mental capacity is already full.

Tommy explains why employees often hear the task but miss the reason behind it, leading to misunderstandings, rework, frustrated clients, and unnecessary stress. More importantly, he shares practical techniques leaders can use to create clearer communication, reduce cognitive overload, and help their teams truly understand what matters most.

If you've ever found yourself saying, "I already explained that," this episode offers a different perspective and a better way forward.

In This Episode

• Why "they're not listening" is often the wrong diagnosis

• The hidden cost of missing the main point

• How mental capacity affects listening

• Why rework and communication breakdowns happen

• The difference between tasks and meaning

• How leaders unintentionally make communication harder

• Turning listening into a capacity conversation

• The "play the main thing back" technique

• Why preparation improves presence

• Three questions every leader should ask before blaming poor listening

Chapters

00:00 Why Your Team Isn't Really Listening

02:28 The Hidden Cost of Missing the Main Point

03:31 Listening Is a Capacity Problem, Not an Attention Problem

04:55 First Step: Check If It's You

07:18 Have a Capacity Conversation

08:01 The "Play the Main Thing Back" Framework

08:52 Why Preparation Creates Better Listening

09:18 Three Questions Every Leader Should Ask
About Lead to Grow

Lead to Grow explores the people's principles behind high-performing businesses. Hosted by Tommy Sim, the podcast focuses on leadership, performance, culture and 

decision-making, with practical insights leaders can apply immediately.

New episodes are released regularly.

Follow the show on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, or subscribe on YouTube for future episodes.

Have you ever hired someone who seemed great on paper, only to find yourself questioning the decision a few weeks into the job?

Before deciding that a new hire isn't right for the role, Tommy Sim asks a more uncomfortable question: Have they failed the role, or have they failed your onboarding?

In this episode of Lead to Grow, Tommy explores why good people can look average when the onboarding process is unclear. From vague expectations and inconsistent training to poor feedback and the classic “sink or swim” approach, he breaks down what managers can do to give new hires a genuine chance to succeed while getting much clearer evidence of their performance.

You'll learn how to turn onboarding from an information dump into a practical process built around observable outcomes, context, practice, feedback and repetition.

Because strong onboarding doesn't lower your standards. It makes accountability cleaner.

In This Episode

• Why good people can look like bad hires

• The difference between role competency and contextual competency

• Why “sink or swim” isn't a high-performance strategy

• How to define what a new hire actually needs to demonstrate

• Why onboarding should work backwards from the evidence you need

• Teaching the context behind your business, not just the tasks

• The importance of identifying your “enemy customer”

• How simulations and role-play can build confidence before real stakes

• Using AI role-play to help new hires practise

• Why shadowing without a clear lens isn't enough

• Building feedback into the onboarding rhythm

• How inconsistent training from different team members creates confusion

• Tommy's five-part ramp-up test

• How better onboarding helps managers identify poor fits faster

• Why investing time upfront can save much more time later

Chapters

00:00 The Onboarding Problem Nearly Every Manager Has

02:26 Why “Sink or Swim” Isn't a High-Performance Strategy

04:49 Stop Teaching Information and Start Building Evidence

07:16 Teach the Context Behind Performance

09:43 Build Practice Loops, Not Just Exposure

12:10 Use the Ramp-Up Test Before You Decide Someone Is Wrong

14:34 What Speed Did You Actually Build for Them?

About Lead to Grow

Lead to Grow explores the people's principles behind high-performing businesses. Hosted by Tommy Sim, the podcast focuses on leadership, performance, culture and 

decision-making, with practical insights leaders can apply immediately.

New episodes are released regularly.

Follow the show on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, or subscribe on YouTube for future episodes.

Why is it so hard to say no, push back, or deliver a difficult message when you genuinely want to be a supportive leader?

In this episode of Lead to Grow, Tommy Sim explores the “agreement reflex”, the tendency for supportive leaders to move too quickly from understanding someone’s position to agreeing with their request.

Whether it’s an urgent client request, a demanding deadline, or a difficult conversation with your team, saying yes too quickly can create bigger problems later. The team gets stretched, quality suffers, expectations become harder to manage, and the business absorbs the cost.

Tommy explains how leaders can keep their warmth and supportive nature without giving away their judgment. Instead of becoming tougher or more direct for the sake of it, the answer is to build a stronger pause between hearing pressure and making a commitment.

The episode introduces the Helpful Leader Reset, a practical five-step approach to separating understanding from agreement, testing urgency, creating clearer expectations, delivering hard messages with warmth and clarity, and holding your position under pressure.

Because being helpful doesn't always mean saying yes.

Sometimes the most helpful thing a leader can do is slow the decision down.

In This Episode

• Why supportive leaders can fall into the “agreement reflex”

• How saying yes too quickly can create problems for your team and business

• The difference between understanding someone and agreeing with them

• Why urgency should be tested before a commitment is made

• How to give people certainty without giving a premature yes

• The Helpful Leader Reset and its five practical moves

• How to create clear agreements before difficult conversations happen

• Why warmth is valuable, but vagueness is not

• How to deliver hard messages without becoming harsh

• Why slowing your pace can strengthen your authority

• Using “now, not yet, next” to handle pressure

• Five questions to ask yourself before a pressure conversation

• How to stay supportive without letting helpfulness outrun judgment

Chapters

00:00 The Cost of Saying Yes When Your Team Is Already Stretched

01:08 Why Supportive Leaders Fall Into the “Agreement Reflex”

02:27 How to Stay Warm Without Giving Away Your Judgment

03:31 Pause, Test, Then Commit: A Better Way to Handle Pressure

04:51 The Helpful Leader Reset: Five Moves for Difficult Conversations

06:03 Test Urgency, Trade-Offs and Whether a Decision Is Really Needed

07:21 Create Handles Before the Hard Conversation Happens

08:42 Use Warmth With Clarity, Then Slow Down and Hold Your Position

10:52 The “Now, Not Yet, Next” Framework for Pressure Conversations

12:16 Five Questions to Ask Before You Agree to a Request

13:24 Why Supportive Leaders Need Clarity, Not a Tougher Personality

About Lead to Grow

Lead to Grow explores the people's principles behind high-performing businesses. Hosted by Tommy Sim, the podcast focuses on leadership, performance, culture and decision-making, with practical insights leaders can apply immediately.

New episodes are released regularly.

Follow the show on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, or subscribe on YouTube for future episodes.

What happens when a founder-led business grows from 8 people to 18?

On paper, it is only 10 more people. In reality, it can completely change the way the business needs to be led.

In this episode of Lead to Grow, Tommy Sim explores the leadership inflection point that happens when founders can no longer stay directly connected to every person, decision and customer issue.

The challenge isn't simply letting go. It's making sure the standards, judgment, urgency and customer focus that helped build the business can still operate when the founder isn't in every room.

Tommy breaks down how to build a management layer that can carry the founder's way of working, without creating unnecessary complexity or losing the culture that made the business successful in the first place.

Because founder energy should scale, but founder dependency should not.

In This Episode:

• Why growing from 8 to 18 people changes the leadership model

• The difference between founder energy and founder dependency

• Why management is a translation layer, not just a reporting line

• What happens when managers lack clear decision-making authority

• Why founders need to treat recurring issues as a diagnostic

• How founders can stop rewarding people for bypassing managers

• Why implementation is not the same as adoption

• How to slow change down enough for people to actually learn

• Separating founder principles from founder preferences

• How to turn founder instinct into language managers can learn

• Mapping the work and assigning clear accountability

• Understanding P, C, R and J accountability

• Why role descriptions need to go beyond a list of tasks

• Creating clear decision rights and escalation guidelines

• How founders can gradually hand over decision-making

• Choosing the right people for management roles

• Why being a good employee does not always mean being ready to lead

• Coaching managers through practice, feedback and real situations

• Building feedback loops to reduce founder dependency

• The management rhythms that keep founders informed without being involved in everything

• A practical six-question diagnostic for the 8-to-18 stage

Chapters

00:00 The 8 to 18 People Inflection Point

02:23 Why Management Becomes a Translation Layer

04:49 Implementation vs Adoption

05:39 Treating Founder Issues as a Diagnostic

06:14 Slow the Change Down Enough to Learn

07:16 Turn Founder Instinct Into Language

08:10 Separate Founder Principles From Preferences

08:55 Map the Work and Assign Accountability

09:36 Understanding P, C, R and J Accountability

10:00 Building Clear Roles and Decision Rights

11:00 How Founders Can Step Back Gradually

12:02 Build Management Muscle Through Practice

13:00 Creating Feedback Loops That Reduce Founder Dependency

14:26 The 8 to 18 Management Layer Diagnostic

15:00 Have You Built the Management Layer You Need?

15:30 Less Founder Dependency, Not Less Founder Energy

About Lead to Grow

Lead to Grow explores the people's principles behind high-performing businesses. Hosted by Tommy Sim, the podcast focuses on leadership, performance, culture and 

decision-making, with practical insights leaders can apply immediately.

New episodes are released regularly.

If this episode gave you something useful, share it with someone who'd get the same value from it, or with your team before your next weekly meeting.

Follow the show on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, or subscribe on YouTube for future episodes.

Why does it feel like everyone is busy all day, yet the important work still isn’t getting done?

In this episode of Lead to Grow, Tommy Sim tackles one of the biggest frustrations in modern workplaces: meeting overload. From endless calendar invitations to recurring discussions that never lead to action, Tommy explores why meetings often create the illusion of progress while quietly slowing teams down.

Rather than simply cutting meetings, this episode introduces a practical seven-week framework to help leaders redesign how meetings are used. You'll learn how to create clearer outcomes, improve accountability, reduce wasted time, and ensure every meeting moves work forward.

Because meetings aren't the problem.

Meetings without clarity, ownership, or action are.

In This Episode

• Why meetings create the feeling of progress without real progress

• The hidden cost of poor meetings

• How to take back control of your team's calendar

• Choosing the right meeting for the right purpose

• Why preparation should happen before the meeting

• Setting expectations in the first 60 seconds

• Simple techniques to keep conversations on track

• The difference between alignment and polite agreement

• How to create real accountability and follow-through

• Tommy’s practical seven-week meeting reset framework

Chapters

00:00 Why Teams Are Always Busy But Still Behind

02:23 The Real Problem With Meetings

03:15 The Seven-Week Meeting Reset Framework

04:00 Rule 1: Take Back Control of Your Team's Calendar

05:49 Rule 2: Put the Right Issue in the Right Room

09:09 Rule 3: Prepare the Thinking Before People Arrive

11:03 Rule 4: Set the Frame in the First 60 Seconds

13:04 Rule 5: Steer the Conversation With the Right Sentence

15:18 Rule 6: Build Real Alignment, Not Polite Agreement

17:17 Rule 7: Turn Discussion Into Owned Commitments

19:54 Putting the Seven Rules Into Practice

20:50 What Is This Meeting Meant to Move?

About Lead to Grow

Lead to Grow explores the people's principles behind high-performing businesses. Hosted by Tommy Sim, the podcast focuses on leadership, performance, culture and 

decision-making, with practical insights leaders can apply immediately.

New episodes are released regularly.

If this episode gave you something useful, share it with someone who'd get the same value from it, or with your team before your next weekly meeting.

Follow the show on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, or subscribe on YouTube for future episodes.

Should you keep a high performer that everyone struggles to work with?

In this episode of Lead to Grow, Tommy Sim tackles one of leadership’s toughest questions: what do you do when someone delivers exceptional results but leaves frustration, tension, and disruption in their wake?

Tommy explores the difference between headline performance and true net contribution, why some employees use their strengths as a shield against feedback, and how leaders can avoid being trapped between protecting culture and protecting results.

Rather than relying on simplistic answers, this episode provides a practical framework for evaluating performance, addressing difficult behaviour, and building standards that support both accountability and growth.

Because the real question isn’t whether someone produces results.

It’s whether the value they create outweighs the cost everyone else is paying for it.

In This Episode

• Why high performance and high contribution are not always the same

• The hidden costs of difficult top performers

• How strengths can become shields against accountability

• The difference between headline performance and net contribution

• Why managers get pulled into the wrong conversations

• Using "operating models" instead of debating past incidents

• The power of micro-agreements in leadership conversations

• Creating clear behavioural standards

• Reducing dependency risk within teams

• How to make better decisions about difficult high performers

Chapters

00:00 The High Performer Dilemma

02:20 Headline Performance vs Net Contribution

04:43 When Strength Becomes a Shield

07:10 The Leadership Middle Ground

08:01 Step 1: Identify the Strength and the Shield

09:32 Step 2: Move From the Incident to the Operating Model

11:57 Step 3: Build Alignment Through Micro-Agreements

14:22 Step 4: Create If-This-Then-That Behaviours

16:47 Step 5: Follow Up and Review the Evidence

17:55 The Net Contribution Test

18:37 Dependency Risk and Hidden Business Problems

19:11 Making the Right Leadership Decision

20:08 Can You Afford to Keep Protecting the Exception?

About Lead to Grow

Lead to Grow explores the people's principles behind high-performing businesses. Hosted by Tommy Sim, the podcast focuses on leadership, performance, culture and decision-making, with practical insights leaders can apply immediately.

New episodes are released regularly.

If this episode reshaped how you think about high performers and standards, share it with a leader who’s carrying one of these people on their team.

Follow the show on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, or subscribe on YouTube for future episodes.

What if the problem isn't that your team lacks resilience?

What if the real issue is the environment they're operating in?

In this episode of Lead to Grow, Tommy Sim challenges one of the most common assumptions in leadership: that resilience is simply a personal trait that some people have and others don't.

Tommy explores why leaders often mistake fatigue, confusion, stress, and poor systems for a lack of toughness. He explains how resilience is not just built within individuals, but shaped by the conditions around them.

Drawing on practical leadership experience, Tommy introduces three critical foundations of resilience: constitution, perception, and actions. He unpacks how leaders influence each of these foundations and why building stronger teams requires more than simply telling people to "harden up."

This episode is a powerful reminder that resilience isn't about enduring endless pressure. It's about creating the conditions that help people adapt, recover, learn, and perform when challenges arise.

In This Episode

• Why leaders often misdiagnose resilience problems

• The difference between battle-hardened, battle-weary, and battle-worn teams

• How fatigue and depletion impact performance

• Why resilience is shaped by the environment, not just the individual

• The role of constitution, perception, and actions in building resilience

• How leaders influence the way teams interpret pressure

• The Circle of Concern vs Circle of Influence

• Why psychological safety strengthens resilience

• The importance of recovery, clarity, and meaningful challenge

• How high-value activities reduce stress and improve performance

• The difference between stress inoculation and stress saturation

• Practical ways leaders can build stronger, more resilient teams

Key Takeaways

Strong teams are rarely built through pressure alone.

People become more resilient when challenge is paired with clarity, support, learning, recovery, and purposeful action.

The best leaders don't simply demand resilience. They build the foundations that make resilience possible.

Because sometimes the issue isn't a weak team.

It's capable of people operating inside weak conditions.

Chapters

00:00 The Resilience Blind Spot

02:24 What Resilience Actually Means

03:22 Lessons From Basketball and Building Capacity

05:18 Foundation One: Constitution

07:12 Battle-Hardened vs Battle-Weary

09:38 Why Teams Get Worn Down

10:45 Foundation Two: Perception

12:02 Circle of Concern vs Circle of Influence

14:27 Foundation Three: Actions

15:18 High Value Activities and Team Focus

16:50 Building Resilience Through Feedback1

8:08 Psychological Safety and Strong Teams

18:46 Stress Inoculation vs Stress Saturation

19:13 Diagnosing Resilience Problems Properly

20:39 Practical Ways Leaders Build Resilience

22:00 Strong Teams Are Built, Not Born 

About Lead to Grow

Lead to Grow explores the people's principles behind high-performing businesses. Hosted by Tommy Sim, the podcast focuses on leadership, performance, culture and 

decision-making, with practical insights leaders can apply immediately.

New episodes are released regularly.

If this episode helped you rethink how you approach feedback, share it with a leader who may need it.

Follow the show on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, or subscribe on YouTube for future episodes.

What does it take to lead a successful business into its next chapter of growth?

In this episode of Lead to Grow, Tommy Sim sits down with Peter Antonius, CEO of Liston Newton, to explore the realities of stepping into a long-established business and helping shape its future.

From becoming the firm's first-ever Group CEO to developing a new strategic direction, Peter shares the leadership lessons he's learned about balancing tradition with innovation, earning trust, developing people, and preparing an organisation for a rapidly changing professional services landscape.

The conversation explores talent development, competency frameworks, collaboration, AI adoption, strategic growth, and the importance of aligning people around a shared vision.

Whether you're leading a growing business, stepping into a senior leadership role, or preparing your team for the future of work, this episode offers practical insights on building sustainable growth without losing what made the business successful in the first place.

In This Episode

• Transitioning into the CEO role of a long-established business

• Leading change while respecting organisational history

• Why listening matters before taking action

• Building and implementing a five-year strategy

• The challenge of scaling a people-focused business

• Creating clear career pathways through competency frameworks

• Developing talent based on capability, not tenure

• Building a culture of collaboration across teams

• Keeping clients at the centre of decision making

• AI's impact on professional services

• Preparing future leaders and trusted advisors

• Balancing growth, culture, and operational excellence

• The importance of board alignment and strategic clarity

Chapters

00:00 Building the Firm of the Future

00:48 Why Peter Joined Lister Newton

02:37 Leading an Established Business Through Growth

03:33 The Challenges of Becoming the First CEO

04:57 Listening Before Leading

06:35 What Breaks First During Growth

07:37 Solving the Talent Development Challenge

09:23 Building Career Pathways Through Competency Frameworks

10:43 Creating a Development Framework That Works

11:52 Why Collaboration Is a Core Business Value

13:32 Creating the Conditions for Team Collaboration

14:26 Looking Ahead to the Next Five Years

16:02 Preserving Culture While Driving Change

16:53 Evolution vs Revolution in Leadership

18:17 Balancing Direction and Buy-In

18:39 Creating Alignment at the Board Level

20:02 Disagree, Then Commit

21:20 Final Leadership Reflections 

About Lead to Grow

Lead to Grow explores the people's principles behind high-performing businesses. Hosted by Tommy Sim, the podcast focuses on leadership, performance, culture and 

decision-making, with practical insights leaders can apply immediately.

New episodes are released regularly.

Follow the show on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, or subscribe on YouTube for future episodes.

A lot of companies hire “proven” industry salespeople hoping they’ll bring their contacts and magically fix sales.

In this episode, Tommy Sim breaks down why that almost never plays out the way you hope, and what to do instead so you can build a more reliable, repeatable way to grow sales in your business

What This Episode Covers

You’ll learn:

• Why the “little black book” myth rarely translates into real results

• The difference between borrowed credibility vs real sales skill

• Why targets and past performance can be misleading

• How context (brand, market, support, timing) skews perception

• The risk of hiring based on urgency instead of strategy

• Why “convenient hires” often become long-term problems

• A salesperson’s success is not just about them.

It’s about:

• The brand they represented

• The market conditions they operated in

• The leads and support they were given

• The system they were part of

Remove that context… and performance often changes.

That’s why:

A result without context creates false certainty.

Mentioned in this episode:

Why You Keep Hiring the Wrong Person (And How to Finally Fix It)

https://open.spotify.com/episode/078MEhCb8snUM4XrWSHwvN?si=Y4488-QSQgub3qX8B2rzww

00:00 The Myth of the “Ready-Made” Salesperson

01:52 Why Clients Don’t Follow Salespeople

02:20 The Problem with “He Seems Good”

04:20 Why Targets Can Be Misleading

06:04 Urgency vs Strategy in Hiring

07:27 Defining What a Sales Role Actually Is

09:31 How to Properly Assess Sales Talent

11:17 Building Your Own Sales Talent Pipeline

16:03 Why Quick Hires Create Long-Term Pain

17:26 Final Thoughts on Sustainable Sales Teams