When you're under pressure to produce more from the same or fewer resources
How Fulfilling Performance can help leaders collaborate, refocus, and release handbrakes—even when resources are tight.
Image credit: ulleo
Hello fellow Enablers,
I had a call this week with a young woman I’m mentoring. She works on the software side of a German industrial company that provides high-end technology to automotive manufacturers, among others.
As an individual she’s highly capable and motivated but she’s currently stuck.
She’s stuck watching email salvos fly across the organisation—between departments, fired by people more senior than her. Everyone’s under pressure to produce more from fewer resources, and this is one of the most common consequences:
People stop collaborating.
They go inward.
They silo.
When resources shrink, silos strengthen
A department head comes under pressure to deliver more—but without any additional people. So what does he do?
He revisits some old process documents and determines that over the last few years, his team has been over-helpful. More generous with their support than was strictly required.
So they pull back.
And then others do the same.
Bit by bit, the glue between departments dissolves. The work falls into the cracks. Everyone is “doing their bit”—but the collective delivery suffers.
How Fulfilling Performance helps in this scenario
This is where the Fulfilling Performance framework can make all the difference. It offers a simple lens for reconnecting people to the bigger picture and to one another.
Let’s walk through it using the Guiding Principles:
1. Know Why
(Tops up the Fundamental of Purpose)
In the scenario above, the customer has disappeared from view. Teams are focused inward—on rules, roles, and internal constraints—rather than on the real objective.
What would happen if they re-centred around the customer?
Who are we doing this for?
Why does it matter that we deliver this product on time, on budget, and to spec?
What’s at stake in terms of revenue, reputation, or repeat business?
Reconnecting to purpose won’t magically solve the resource challenge, but it does align everyone behind a shared goal—which is the first step to real collaboration.
2. Be Clear
(Tops up the Fundamental of Clarity)
Yes, there may be old guidelines that define what each team is “supposed” to do. But is that enough?
Instead of defaulting to rigid scope interpretations, leaders need to level up and ask:
What actually needs to happen for the whole thing to get delivered?
Are we clear on who is doing what—and how it connects to the customer outcome?
This is where grown-up conversations need to happen. The clarity we need is the kind that supports delivery, not just the kind that ticks boxes.
3. Support Others
(Tops up the Fundamental of Culture)
We live in an interdependent world.
In Fulfilling Performance, we don’t wait to be supported. We commit to supporting others. If everyone does this, by definition, support becomes mutual.
It’s worth asking:
How is the behaviour of the people around us supporting high performance?
What could we be doing differently to support one another better?
This is a great question for a project team or leadership group to reflect on—ideally with humour, honesty, and a little humility.
4. Equip Yourself
(Tops up the Fundamental of Capability)
This is the one most people jump to first:
“We don’t have enough people.”
“We’re not resourced for this.”
That may be true—but by working through Purpose, Clarity, and Culture first, the conversation about capability becomes far more constructive:
What do we have?
Where is our expertise?
Who knows what—and how can we deploy our strengths wisely?
It becomes a conversation about optimising what exists, rather than simply pleading for more.
The result? Fewer silos. More performance. Greater fulfilment.
Using the Fulfilling Performance framework doesn’t make the pressure disappear. But it does give leaders and teams a way to step back, regroup, and work with the constraints instead of turning against each other.
That’s what enables Fulfilling Performance—even when you’re under pressure.
The Fulfilling Performance Hub
I’m planning a virtual session to connect leaders who are interested in enabling Fulfilling Performance for themselves and those they lead and care about.
If that sounds interesting and you’d like to be notified when I schedule it, just let me know and I’ll add you to the list.
CAREER-VIEW MIRROR #227
Side Mirror: Leveraging AI to share insights from remarkable women
What happens when you give an AI tool access to 38 in-depth interviews with senior women from across the global automotive industry?
In this episode, I demonstrate how AI is helping me resurface powerful themes and insights from the rich archive of CAREER-VIEW MIRROR conversations.
You’ll hear a 15-minute AI-generated audio discussion between two synthetic voices as they summarise lessons learned from these remarkable women.
More than just a tech demo, this is an invitation to revisit and reflect on the wisdom shared by leaders who’ve navigated international careers with humility, intentionality, humour, and a lot of courage.
Listen to the episode to:
Hear how AI can support creators (not replace them)
Get a taste of what’s possible with this kind of content curation
Be reminded of the value of lived experience shared openly
And when you've heard about these women's experiences, go back and listen to their full story.
🎧 Listen now: Apple Podcasts / Online / Spotify
Check out the directory of all our guests and episodes on Instagram.
“Go to people” need people to go to!
The Aquilae Academy: Guided peer mentoring and coaching for executives, senior leaders and business owners.
Running a business or holding a senior position in an organisation can be very rewarding. At the same time it can be challenging and even lonely.
There are certain topics we are either unable or uncomfortable to discuss with colleagues no matter how self aware and open we are.Sometimes it is just not appropriate to discuss an issue with a colleague. Maybe they are the issue!
Our partners and friends may want to listen and help but they may not have relevant experience or be completely independent.
The Aquilae Academy is for senior leaders and business owners who:
acknowledge that they can’t and don’t have to do it alone
value interdependence and
are looking to continue learning and growing with the support of a team of like minded peers
If this sounds like you, contact me and I’ll happily tell you more.
Thank you,
Andy
E: andy@aquilae.co.uk