ÜBER DIESE EPISODE
Most founders think their people problems are people problems.
Behaviour problems. Capability problems. Cultural problems.
But the same patterns keep showing up because the design underneath them never changed.
In this conversation, Kerrie McGilvray sits down with Erin Barnes, behavioural strategist and organisational performance specialist at A Human Edge, to unpack why high performance and high pressure get confused inside small teams, and what actually shifts when standards stop living only in the founder’s head. The discussion challenges one of the most common assumptions in business. That people are the problem. The reality is that most performance issues are design issues wearing a different mask, and the cost of leaving them hidden compounds quietly inside the team.
Most people problems aren’t capability problems. They’re clarity problems
High performance is intentional impact. High pressure is busy presence
Standards don’t add rules. They reduce the cognitive load of constant decision making
Performance equals potential minus interference. Most teams are drowning in interference
Safety is perception, not reality. The moment a team feels uncertain, it feels unsafe
This episode reframes what good leadership actually looks like for founders who feel the weight of every decision landing back on them. It isn’t about working harder or leading harder. It is about extracting what you already hold in your head and designing it into the business so your team isn’t waiting on you to think for them.
If your team is capable on paper but the load somehow still sits with you,
and the pattern keeps repeating no matter who you hire,
this is the conversation worth sitting with.
High Performance Without Toxicity - out now
You Can Connect With Erin Barnes:
LinkedIn Personal: Erin Barnes
LinkedIn: A Human Edge
LinkedIn : Juxta
Website: A Human Edge
Free Training: Future-Ready Teams
Connect with Kerrie McGilvray:
Website: The Admin Superheroes
LinkedIn: Kerrie McGilvray | The Admin Superheroes
Instagram: Kerrie McGilvray | The Admin Superheroes
Explore working together + The Admin Superheroes
For founders ready to build with intention, not just intensity
