Had a 1:1 last week. Nothing unusual, just a regular conversation, catching up on things. But there was one moment that stayed with me after the call ended.
At some point he said he usually thinks about people in four different ways. Not as an official framework or anything like that, just how he personally sees it. And I don’t know, the way he explained it felt simple, but it kind of stuck.
Managing performance
He said the first one is when someone is still managing performance. That’s when the manager needs to stay close, making sure things are on track, helping, correcting. It’s not even necessarily about lack of capability, sometimes it’s just inconsistency.
The question here is pretty basic. Can this person be trusted to handle the fundamentals without things slipping?
Doing your job
Then there’s the second type, people who just do their job. They deliver what’s assigned, they don’t create problems, everything works.
But it kind of stops there.
No real stretch, no extra ownership, no influence beyond what’s expected. Just consistent execution within the scope. I think a lot of people stay here for a long time without even realizing.
High performance individual
Then he said the third one is high performance individuals, and that’s where he sees me today. Which, yeah, felt good to hear.
This is where you take ownership, you go beyond what’s asked, you solve problems, you deliver. People trust you to execute and to get things done.
But even here, the impact is still very tied to you doing the work.
Becoming a partner
Then he paused a bit and said the fourth level is becoming a partner.
And that’s where the shift happens.
It’s not about doing more work or being busier. It’s more about how people start to rely on you differently. Not just to execute, but to think with them. To shape decisions, to anticipate what’s coming, to say “this is what we should do” instead of just “I’ll take care of it.”
It’s a different kind of trust.
Say–Do ratio
Right after that he mentioned something else, which at first sounded very simple. He called it the say–do ratio.
Basically how often what you say you’re going to do actually happens.
Sounds obvious, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized how much this connects with everything else he said.
At some point, especially as you grow, people stop tracking your work. They don’t follow up on every little thing, they don’t check again, they don’t remind you. They just assume it’s handled.
If you say you’ll do something, that’s enough.
“Ricardo said he’ll take care of it, we’re good.”
And that only works if your say–do ratio is solid.
If it’s not, people don’t necessarily call it out directly. They just start adding layers without saying much. More follow-ups, more check-ins, more control around things.
Not because you’re not capable.
But because you’re not predictable.
What stayed with me
I think that’s what really clicked for me.
The gap between being a high performer and becoming a partner is probably less about doing more and more about being someone people can rely on without thinking twice.
Someone whose word is enough.
It made me reflect on small things. How many times I say “I’ll take a look” or “I’ll get back to you” without being clear on when. Or committing to things a bit loosely, thinking I’ll figure it out later.
Those small moments probably add up more than we realize.
Anyway, nothing super complex. But one of those ideas that kind of changes how you look at your own day-to-day.
I’m definitely going to pay more attention to what I commit to and how I follow through.
Because maybe that’s the real difference.
Not doing more, but being someone people don’t need to follow up with.
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