Putting on a Show

When I was working in Indonesia, we wanted to understand the everyday realities our teams were facing. What was getting in their way? What was working? What needed to change?

But there was a problem: Every time leadership visited, it became a show.

And I don’t mean figuratively. Red carpets came out. People prepared. Normal rhythms disappeared into polish and performance. We once tried to organize a surprise visit planned it for weeks. We arrived. Perfect. Someone had tipped them off. The stores looked flawless. Everyone wore their best smiles.

But we didn’t get the real story. We got theatre.

That experience has stayed with me, because it forced a harder question: What kind of culture had we created if people felt safer performing than telling the truth? If reality only appeared in slide decks, not in daily operations, that responsibility belonged to us as leaders. Our intention may have been to help, but culture often outlives intention. Even when the message at the top changes, it can take a long time for people on the front lines to believe it.

What Michael Jordan Loved Most About Basketball

I once read that when asked what he loved most about the game, he didn’t say championships or sold-out arenas. He said practice.

Why? Because practice was honest. No lights. No audience. No performance. Just the work. Just improvement. Just teammates trying to get better together. By the time game day arrived, he didn’t need to transform into something else. He simply showed up as himself.

That’s the culture leaders should want:

• Where people don’t switch personalities when visitors arrive.
• Where honesty is normal.
• Where problems surface early.
• Where the everyday version of the organization is the real one.

The Leadership Challenge

How do we build environments where people do not feel the need to impress power, but feel safe enough to inform it? Because when truth is filtered, leaders make expensive decisions. In many African contexts, where resources are tight and expectations are high, bad information is more than inconvenient, it is dangerous.

7 Ways to Build a Culture Where No One Has to Perform

1. Make everyday reality matter: If attention only appears during crises or inspections, people will stage-manage moments. Consistency builds credibility.
2. Explain why, not just what: Meaning builds ownership. Without it, compliance replaces commitment.
3. Say things in human language: If transparency sounds scripted, people assume it isn’t real.
4. Let leaders be learners: When senior leaders show curiosity instead of certainty, others stop hiding.
5. Trade harmony for honesty: Respectful disagreement is oxygen for improvement.
6. Replace cascading messages with listening loops: Upward information is usually more valuable than downward instruction.
7. Build trust through repetition: Not speeches. Patterns. What you tolerate. What you reward. What you ignore.

Why This Matters More Than We Admit

When people perform, leaders see illusions. When leaders see illusions, strategies drift away from reality. Over time, morale drops, execution weakens, and the most capable people quietly disengage. Not because they don’t care, but because they don’t believe truth is welcome.

The Culture Many of Us Miss

I remember being part of a team building something new. No politics. No theatre. We weren’t trying to look impressive; we were trying to get it right. We had to be honest. We had to admit what we didn’t know. We had to rely on each other. It felt like practice in the best sense: Real. Focused. Aligned.

And because of that, nobody needed a “game face.”

When Alignment Exists, Performance Disappears

At Leadership In Focus Africa, we often say: When brand, culture, and leadership are aligned, people stop guessing what matters. They can feel it in how decisions happen. They can see it in what gets rewarded. They experience it in how leaders respond when reality is uncomfortable.

If Something Feels Off, It Probably Is

Many leaders quietly carry the thought: “This shouldn’t be this hard.” They sense energy being spent on appearance instead of progress. That’s usually not a motivation problem; it’s an alignment problem.

If you want the kind of organization where people show up honestly, where leaders hear reality early, and where trust replaces theatre, that work is possible. It starts by seeing clearly where words and lived experience have drifted apart.

Ready to close the gap?

Start with the BrandTruth Alignment Check.