The Foundation of High Performance: Autonomy, Confidence, and Impact

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During my time in the Marines, I developed a theory about engaging high performers that's shaped how we've built High Ground Service Pros. It came from watching exceptional people thrive under certain conditions and watching those same people disengage when those conditions disappeared.
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The framework is simple: three levers that matter most.

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Autonomy

Do people have the guidance, clarity, guard-rails, and context to do their job without asking permission at every turn? High performers want to execute. They want to solve problems. They don't want to wait for approval on decisions they're capable of making themselves.

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Confidence

Do people have the education, training, expectations, and resources to know how to do their job well and whether they're doing it well? This isn't about arrogance. It's about competence. It's knowing you have what you need to succeed and having clear standards to measure yourself against.

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Impact

Do people have the visibility, feedback, and understanding to know how to make a difference and if they're making a difference? High performers want to see that their work matters. They want to know they're contributing to something larger than themselves.
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Get these three things right and you'll build a team of winners who are genuinely bought in. Get it wrong and you'll wonder why your culture feels weak and apathetic despite the pizza parties and donut Fridays.

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Where the Rubber Meets the Road

The framework is straightforward. The execution is where most companies fail.
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This is about the fundamentals. Consistent 1:1s. Leaders who stay plugged into the pulse of the organization. Leaders who see themselves as supporting their teams, not the other way around. Clearly articulated expectations. Frequent praise for great work. Taking feedback from the frontline and putting it into action quickly.
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These actions are where engagement actually happens. Everything else is noise.
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There are many elements that go into building strong culture and driving engagement, but this is the foundation. If you don't have these things dialed in, you're building on shaky ground.

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Not for Everyone

This environment isn't for everyone. Not everyone thrives when given autonomy, confidence, and impact. Some people don't want the responsibility that comes with it. They don't want to own outcomes. They don't want to execute autonomously.
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We encourage those folks to find a place that's better suited to their zone of comfort. That's not a criticism. It's about fit. We're building something specific here, and we need people who want what we're offering.

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Measuring What Matters

Engagement and culture are things you feel. They're difficult to quantify. But we've found success measuring our team's engagement using Gallup's Q12: twelve straightforward questions that capture whether the team feels their basic needs are being met, they have the ability to contribute as individuals, they feel part of a supportive team, and they've had the ability to grow.
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We measure this quarterly, asking the team for honest and anonymous feedback. In many ways, this has become a report card for our leaders. It allows us to put a number on our performance in this area alongside metrics like sales, conversions, and profit.
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What gets measured gets managed.
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Our most recent survey resulted in a 4.5 out of 5.0 score, which translates to 90% total engagement.
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Across Gallup's 40+ million survey responses, scores above 4.47 typically sit in the 80th–90th percentile. That's "best place to work" caliber.
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According to Gallup, for a field-services organization, this is nearly unheard of. Technician-heavy and distributed home services teams usually average:
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• 3.6–3.9 (typical)
• 4.0–4.2 (strong)
• 4.3–4.4 (rare, elite operators)
• 4.5+ (top 1–2% of the trades industry)
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We're in that top tier. And damn proud of it.

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The Work Continues

We're proud of how we've been able to support our team and achieve engagement at this level. But this isn't something you accomplish once and move on from. It takes continuous work and focus. It must be a leadership priority.
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For us, the autonomy, confidence, and impact framework is the bedrock everything else is built on. It's not theory. It's not aspirational. It's how we operate every day.
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The framework works because it's built on what high performers actually need to thrive. Give people the ability to execute autonomously, the competence to do it well, and the visibility to see their impact, and they'll build something remarkable.
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That's what we're doing at High Ground. That's what the results show.

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