Spend Your Time with Your Best Performers – Project Managers

Spend Your Time With Your Best People

There is a moment every leader hits where the frustration settles in quietly. You look around your project team, your department, or your company and think, I’m working harder than ever, but we’re not getting better. You are mentoring. You are coaching. You are putting out fires. And somehow, the more energy you pour in, the more drained you feel.

I want to start this conversation with something that might challenge you a little, because growth usually does. If you want to maximize your effectiveness and scale through others, you must learn to intentionally spend most of your time with your best people.

That sentence alone rubs people the wrong way. We are taught to lift others up, to help those who struggle, to rescue the squeaky wheel. And I believe deeply in training, mentoring, and developing people. Elevate Construction exists for that exact reason. But what I am talking about here is different. This is about where your primary leadership energy goes.

Because if you get this wrong, you don’t just stall progress. You quietly punish the very people who are doing everything right.

The Hidden Pattern That Holds Teams Back

On every project, in every company, and in every department, people generally fall into three groups. The exact percentages may shift, but the pattern is consistent.

There is a group that is bought in. These people believe in the direction, the systems, and the standards. They show up prepared. They support the culture. They weigh in during meetings and back the decisions afterward. They do not need to be chased. They are your builders of momentum.

There is a middle group that is undecided. They are watching. They are not against you, but they are not committed either. They are influenced by what they see rewarded and what they see tolerated. This group will move, one way or the other.

And then there is the group that is not bought in. Sometimes they are vocal. Sometimes they are silent. Sometimes they smile in meetings and undermine everything afterward. They resist standards, avoid accountability, and drain energy. Often, they are the loudest voices in the room when something isn’t going their way.

Here is the painful truth. In construction, the people who complain the most usually receive the most attention.

They get the meetings. They get the explanations. They get the follow-ups. They get the emotional labor. And meanwhile, your best people quietly do their jobs, solve problems, and receive very little of your time.

Over time, that imbalance sends a message, whether you intend it or not.

A Lesson From Home That Applies to the Jobsite

I have eleven children, and parenting has a way of exposing leadership blind spots very quickly. Like most families, we have kids who are naturally aligned with expectations. They do their chores. They follow through. They are diligent and responsible.

We also have kids who struggle more. They need reminders. They push boundaries. They demand attention.

If I am honest, I often spend the majority of my time dealing with the squeaky wheels. And what does that communicate to the child who is doing everything right?

It says, If I behave well, I disappear.

Human beings do not need positive attention to act out. They just need attention. And when high performers feel invisible long enough, they either disengage or leave.

The same thing happens on project teams. The same thing happens in companies. The same thing happens in leadership.

Why This Matters More Than You Think

When leaders over-invest their time in low performers, three dangerous things happen.

First, the undecided middle group notices. They see that complaining, resisting, or creating drama earns attention. Slowly, some of them drift toward that behavior because it appears to work.

Second, your top performers feel taken for granted. They stop bringing ideas. They stop volunteering solutions. They stop pushing themselves. Eventually, they go somewhere else where excellence is noticed.

Third, the culture shifts. Not because of one big decision, but because of hundreds of small signals about what is rewarded and what is tolerated.

This is not theoretical. I have watched it play out across projects, companies, and entire organizations.

What “Spend Time With Your Best People” Actually Means

This does not mean ignoring struggling team members. It does not mean abandoning training. It does not mean being harsh or uncaring.

It means intentionally designing your leadership time so that the majority of your energy goes toward the people who are already aligned and performing.

When you invest deeply in your best people, several things happen naturally.

• They grow faster and begin to multiply your impact through others.
• The middle group becomes motivated to rise because excellence is clearly rewarded.
• Chronic dissenters either improve, neutralize, or self-select out of the organization.

Patrick Lencioni once shared that roughly five percent of people in the dissenting group will leave when they are no longer the center of attention. That is not a failure. That is clarity.

The goal is not to punish anyone. The goal is to create an environment where the standard is clear and the path forward is obvious.

The Role of Incentive and Survival

In construction, there are two forces that shape behavior more than any policy manual ever will. Incentive and survival.

Incentive is recognition, opportunity, growth, trust, and time with leadership. Survival is the minimum standard required to stay on the project or in the role.

We train relentlessly before people step onto a jobsite. We coach. We teach. We prepare. But once we are on site, certain lines cannot be crossed. Safety, quality, and respect for people are not negotiable.

There is no on-the-job training for falling out of a harness. There is no learning curve for cutting corners that put lives at risk.

Zero tolerance is not about punishment. It is about protecting the majority and honoring the standard.

How This Creates Real Collaboration

When leaders consistently spend time with their best people, collaboration improves rather than declines.

Your strongest performers become cultural anchors. They model behavior. They reinforce standards. They pull others forward.

The undecided group sees a clear picture of what success looks like and how it is supported. Many of them rise to the occasion.

And the team stops revolving around the lowest common denominator.

That is how collaboration actually scales. Not by endless accommodation, but by clarity, consistency, and respect.

Where Elevate Construction Fits In

At Elevate Construction, we believe leadership is about systems, not personalities. When the system rewards the right behaviors, people thrive. When it doesn’t, everyone struggles.

If your project needs superintendent coaching, project support, or leadership development, Elevate Construction can help your field teams stabilize, schedule, and flow.

This philosophy shows up in how we train leaders, how we structure teams, and how we build LeanTakt-based systems that allow high performers to multiply their impact without burning out.

The Respectful Choice

Some people hear this message and think it sounds harsh. I would argue the opposite.

What is more respectful? Allowing poor behavior to persist and drag everyone down, or setting clear expectations and rewarding those who rise to meet them?

What is more respectful? Forcing someone to stay in an environment where they are unhappy and misaligned, or giving them the opportunity to find a place where they can succeed?

Respect for people does not mean comfort at all costs. It means honesty, clarity, and dignity.

A Final Challenge

Take a hard look at your calendar. Who gets most of your time? Who gets your energy? Who gets your attention?

Tomorrow, intentionally schedule time with your best people. Walk with them. Coach them. Ask them what they see. Invest where the return is exponential.

1. Edwards Deming once said, “A bad system will beat a good person every time.” Your job as a leader is to build a system that allows good people to win.

That starts with choosing where you stand and who you stand with.

Frequently Asked Questions

Isn’t this unfair to struggling employees?
No. Struggling employees still deserve training, feedback, and clear expectations. The difference is that they should not consume a disproportionate amount of leadership energy at the expense of high performers.

What if my best people don’t need me?
They may not need rescuing, but they do need recognition, challenge, and growth. Ignoring them is one of the fastest ways to lose them.

How does this help the middle group?
The undecided group watches what is rewarded. When they see excellence supported and recognized, many will rise to meet that standard.

Does this mean tolerating less empathy?
Not at all. Empathy remains critical. The difference is pairing empathy with accountability and clarity.

How does this connect to Lean thinking?
Lean focuses on amplifying value and reducing waste. Over-investing in chronic dysfunction is waste. Investing in people who multiply value is Lean leadership in action.