🎙️ Episode Snapshot

In this solo episode, Erik Berglund takes on one of the most critical and misunderstood leadership questions: How do people get better at things? With bold clarity, he dismantles the myths we cling to about time, motivation, and talent, and offers a precise, actionable framework for building growth into your organization. Whether you lead a team of 3 or 300, this episode is a blueprint for unlocking human potential and building a feedback-rich culture that actually works.

❓The Big Question

How do people really improve their performance and what’s your role in making it happen?

💡 Key Takeaways

• Time ≠ growth. People don’t get better just because time passes, they improve through feedback loops, not calendars.
• Feedback only comes from 3 places: competition, self-awareness/motivation, and the leader.
• Breakthroughs matter. High-impact feedback creates step-function gains, not slow burns.
• Three feedback sources you can use today: direct observation, deep inquiry, and data.

🧠 Concepts, Curves, and Frameworks

• The Transition Curve: From uninformed optimism → crisis of meaning → crisis of engagement → informed optimism.
• The Peter Principle: Everyone rises to their level of incompetence, your job is to help them keep climbing competently.
• The Peanut Butter & Jelly Analogy: Why people stop improving when the task is “good enough.”
• Skill + Commitment = Performance: A clear formula for what drives real progress.
• Three Sources of Feedback:
  1. Market/Competition (natural)
  2. Self-awareness/Motivation (rare)
  3. External Feedback (yours—and the most effective)

🔁 Real-Life Reflections

• Erik pulls from his own experience as a coach, sales leader, and father to illustrate how tiny tweaks create powerful breakthroughs.
• He revisits the “PB&J Effect”: most people plateau because there’s no pressure to improve what’s already “fine.”
• He challenges leaders to ask: “Has anyone ever given you feedback on how you give feedback?”
• Erik reveals the invisible leadership gap—why most leaders are never trained to train others.

🧰 Put This Into Practice

• Audit Your Feedback Sources: When was the last time you gave performance-based feedback from a direct observation?
• Map the Curve: Think of one team member and assess where they are on the transition curve.
• Use the Formula: Start giving feedback framed around skill and commitment, not just results.
• Reframe Feedback as Normal: Shift your culture from “feedback as correction” to “feedback as fuel.”

🗣️ Favorite Quotes

“Skill plus commitment equals performance. Performance over time creates outcomes.”
“Feedback should be based on how they got there,not just what they got.”
“You might need to get better at how you get other people better. That’s your real job.”