People before performance? Let’s slow this down.

This might not be a popular opinion, but it feels important to say.

Lately, I have been seeing a growing number of posts and conversations framed around phrases like:

• People before performance

• Wellbeing over workload

• Relationships before results

• Culture before compliance

At face value, these statements feel caring. And to be clear, people do matter. For years, I have been advocating that schools and workplaces must prioritise the wellbeing of the humans who work there.

But here is where we need more nuance.

Focusing on people does not mean abandoning performance, accountability, compliance, or high standards.

When the pendulum swings too far

In many workplaces, particularly schools, the conversation has started to drift into an unhelpful binary. As if we must choose between caring for people or expecting quality work.

That framing creates problems.

Because when performance becomes a dirty word, clarity disappears. Expectations soften. Accountability feels uncomfortable. And ironically, wellbeing often suffers.

Doing your job well, knowing what is expected, and having the conditions to meet those expectations is not separate from wellbeing. It is part of it.

It’s not an “or”. It’s an “and”.

You can care deeply about your people and hold high expectations.

You can prioritise wellbeing and maintain accountability, when that accountability is fair, supported, and responsibility focused.

You can build a supportive culture and still expect excellence.

You can foster psychological safety and have courageous, honest conversations.

You can create flexibility and still insist on clarity, consistency, and follow-through.

This is not about lowering the bar. It is about designing the conditions that allow people to reach it.

Why performance actually matters for wellbeing

When leaders invest in culture, clarity, and capability, people feel safer, more confident, and more grounded in their work.

When expectations are clear, work feels less chaotic.

When systems are well designed, cognitive load reduces.

When roles are understood, energy is used productively rather than defensively.

This is what sustainable wellbeing looks like in practice. Not the absence of challenge, but the presence of support.

Protecting people from burnout is important. Equipping them to do meaningful, high-quality work is just as important.

Perhaps we need to reframe the conversation

Maybe we have swung too far towards the idea that wellbeing means shielding people from pressure altogether.

But pressure is not the same as harm.

The real issue is unmanaged workload, poor systems, unclear expectations, and constant change without support. Not performance itself.

Being able to do your job well, with clarity, purpose, and the right conditions, is wellbeing.

So what does this mean in practice?

It means leaders stop asking, “People or performance?”

And start asking, “How do we design workplaces where both can thrive?”

That is the real work.

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