The 3 Pillars of High Performing Management

Closing the Manager Skills Gap

The demands on managers have evolved dramatically – and they continue to shift at pace. In a complex business environment, there is a constant juggle of performance targets, team development, relationship management and near constant change.

It is a tough ask. Yet, 82% of managers never receive formal training (CMI, 2023). Without the right skills, even well-intentioned managers can fall into habits that undermine team performance.

The good news? With the right development, organisations can transform their managers into highly effective people leaders. Here, we uncover the 3 pillars of effective management: self-management, team management and performance management.

Pillar 1: Self-Management

Leadership starts from the inside out. Yet, more than 50% of managers globally feel burned out (Harvard Business Review, 2023). Excessive role demands, insufficient support and limited autonomy can lead to physical, emotional and mental exhaustion.

This isn’t just a personal wellbeing concern – it’s a significant organisational risk. Managers running on empty make poorer decisions, are more reactive and struggle to inspire the confidence and stability their teams need.

To thrive in today’s complex business environment, managers need more than short-term coping strategies. They need the mindset, habits and skills that enable sustainable, healthy performance. The Five Pillars of Resilience is a scientifically validated model that provides a clear, practical framework for developing this capability. By developing these five pillars, managers build the physical, psychological and social resources they need to stay composed under pressure, adapt to change and lead with focus and direction.

HR and business leaders can take several steps to help:

1. Offer validated resilience assessments to give managers insight into their strengths and development areas.
2. Provide access to resilience and wellbeing programmes designed specifically for managers.
3. Introduce wellbeing and performance coaching to help managers embed new habits.
4. Track burnout risk indicators using pulse surveys or HR analytics.
5. Provide micro-learning resources on resilience and emotional intelligence.

Pillar 2: Team-Management

The culture a manager creates is the daily reality of work for their team. Research shows that teams with high psychological safety are more likely to perform better (Google, 2023), stay together (BCG, 2024) and be less prone to stress (Gov UK, 2022).

Yet, 31% of employees are currently working under toxic management. (Stagwell 2023). To build the foundations of a thriving team culture, managers must know how to do 3 things: create psychological safety, foster belonging and support team wellbeing.

HR and business leaders play a critical role in supporting their managers as they develop these critical capabilities:

1. Integrate psychological safety into leadership competencies and role expectations.
2. Provide inclusion and bias awareness training to give managers the confidence to build belonging.
3. Equip managers with structured guides for wellbeing conversations.
4. Embed team feedback loops to help managers identify blind spots and improve their approach.

Pillar 3: Performance Management

Strong performance management skills are the bridge between vision and results. An ONS study finds that on a scale from zero to one, a 0.1 increase in the management practices score corresponds to an 8.6% increase in productivity (ONS 2015). Yet in many organisations, performance management capability is still underdeveloped.

High-performing managers use a range of capabilities to sustain delivery without burning out their teams: coaching, performance conversations, delegation and pressure management.

To strengthen this performance management capability, organisations can:

1. Embed coaching as a core management expectation and provide practical training.
2. Train managers to delegate for development, not just workload management.
3. Monitor pressure points across teams to prevent overload.
4. Build strategic thinking into manager development to connect day-to-day decisions to organisational priorities.

Closing the Gap

The transition from new manager to people-centric leader is more than a personal development journey – it’s a strategic shift that impacts the whole organisation. Team leaders who can manage themselves, foster trust and drive results create a ripple effect: higher engagement, healthier teams, and sustainable performance.

For HR and business leaders, building these capabilities isn’t optional. Managers are the bridge between strategy and execution – strengthening that bridge is one of the most impactful investments any organisation can make.

Author Bio: Sandra Ordel is a Senior Business Psychologist specialising in workforce resilience and neuropsychology. She supports organisations worldwide to build resilient teams and cultures of healthy performance.