We believe that one of the tasks of leadership is to foster an environment where peak performance becomes part of the culture. The challenge in this is that most of our working environments are structured on principles that mitigate against peak performance. Those principles typically tend to be externally based on systems of recognition and reward, all of which in the long run fail to deliver the desired results because they ultimately fail to satisfy the heart.

We all know that money tends in reality to be a poor motivator. The kick it gives lasts for a while and then needs to be repeated. Once it has been repeated often enough, the behavioural motivation to get more money becomes extinct, following one of the laws of behaviour that Skinner observed when he was in search for a scientific explanation of behaviour. People, as has been stated before, were not designed to be satisfied by money, but by something, or rather, Someone else.

A culture that sustains peak performance is one where all people are led to understand that this is simply the way we do things around here. "We deliver with excellence" becomes not merely a meaningless tag at the bottom of our brand insignia, but rather a principle by which we do business here, whether or not we are the tea lady producing tea for thirsty executives or the miner digging for gold in the belly of the earth. If your organisation is driven by a culture of excellence, you will ultimately have the majority of people performing exceptionally well, carrying the minority who perform with mediocrity.