We love sharing this study with people—because it keeps things simple.

And if you’re busy or overwhelmed right now, simple is exactly what you need.

For years—literally over more than a decade—the Corporate Executive Board kept asking the same questions across thousands of people in companies all over the world. They looked at the teams that consistently performed well and asked:

“What are the managers in those teams actually doing?”

What they found barely changed.

Over and over again, three things came out on top. Not thirty. Not ten. Just three. Here's their findings in a nutshell:

“Three core manager actions—clear expectations, frequent feedback, and role alignment with strengths—account for up to 70% of the variance in employee performance.”

A study done over this period of time, with this many people that gave such consistent findings is really good news.

Because if you’re a leader trying to do everything, this gives you permission to just stop. Take a moment and realign. Because if you just do these 3 things, you probably won’t go far wrong.

 1. A few clear objectives (not loads)

Have you ever noticed how once a list gets past three things, you can’t remember them all?

Neither can your brain.

That’s not laziness. It’s about making the most of your working memory - and that of your teams. Your working memory—the part of your brain keeping track of your to-do list isn’t as big as you think.

Modern cognitive psychology now suggests it comfortably holds three to five meaningful items before it starts getting waylaid or mixing things up. That’s why aiming for just three clear objectives isn’t a soft option - it helps our brains actually remember and focus on what matters.”

Your brain can only juggle about 3–5 meaningful chunks at once. Add more, and things fall off the mental shelf.

So yes—have clear goals, and be ambitious about what people can achieve over the course of say a year. But for best results (and to make sure they don't de-prioritise or forget the most important to you) dish them out a few at a time.

Here's a link to a bit more information about working memory, if like me you want to get a bit deeper into the science:

 Working Memory – The Decision Lab

2. Feedback, in the moment, from someone you trust

This one’s massive. Hands up who loves a two hour long annual performance review? Anyone?!

Thought not. The science doesn't support this as the best way to improve performance, so why anyone is persisting with something universally unpopular that doesn't work very well is a bit beyond me! Much better is a nudge in the right direction. In the moment. A quick observation, presented without triggering your threat response, from someone who’s got your back.

Why? Because timing matters and trust is crucial.

Your brain learns best when feedback is close to the moment it’s relevant. The reward system kicks in, and learning sticks.

And trust matters too. When feedback comes from someone safe, we stay open. The prefrontal cortex—the thinking bit of the brain—stays online. Otherwise we risk going into fight/flight/freeze and missing the message.

Science proves that in-the-moment, specific, real-time feedback actually rewires the brain to learn better.

If you want to join us in a super-geek moment here’s how:

This gives a Dopamine Spike – This makes the moment memorable—our brain tags it as “important.”

Thicken the Myelin - Repeating the alternative ‘right’ behaviour because someone has helped you get back on track, thickens the substance that surrounds the neural pathways - and the pathways are strengthened - the right thing becomes faster and easier to do next time.

We describe myelin to clients as 'brain concrete'!

Think of the Channel Tunnel. It starts as a bore hole — fragile, crumbling. Unless you coat it in concrete, you can’t use it. With the concrete, it’s safe, strong, and you can travel fast.

Your brain works the same. A new neural pathway begins like that bore hole - new things are hard work to get through, easy to avoid. But when someone encourages you, gives you quick feedback, and you repeat the action, your brain says, ah, this matters. It coats the pathway with myelin, protecting it for future use. The more you do it, the stronger it gets.

That’s why in-the-moment feedback is solid gold concrete plating!

It reinforces the right pathways fast. If you look away because you 'don't have time to deal with it now' when someone doesn't do something well or leave someone repeating a poor behaviour for a year, the myelin will concrete over that thing you don't want them to repeat instead.

Not giving feedback in the moment means we can accidentally create low performance habits that are hard to break.

As leaders, our job is simple: help people pour brain concrete on the right things, and keep the bad stuff as fragile bore holes.

3. Work that plays to your strengths

This one’s easy to overlook—especially in fast-paced jobs.

Here is what science proves. When people get to do more of the stuff they’re good at—and that they like—they’re more motivated, more energised, and more productive.

This is how you create flow, that magical state where you lose track of time and just get stuff done.

Gallup’s research shows that teams that use their strengths regularly are 12.5% more productive, and six times more engaged:

Gallup research on strengths-based teams

So if you’ve ever done a psychometric—MBTI, Insights, TMSDI—dig it out.

Ask your team:

Are we working in ways that make sense for who we are?

Is there a better way to share out what needs to be done?

That's it! 3 Simple Things.

If you’re feeling stressed or stretched, this is your reminder to keep leadership simple.Focus on:

A few clear goals

Timely feedback

Strengths-based work

Nothing new, no buzzy trends. Just simple human stuff that works that makes the most of us being wired as we are.

And if you’re too busy for all three today?

Just start with one.