In this episode of Lead to Grow, Tommy Sim explores one of the most overlooked ideas in leadership development: your floor.

Most leaders focus on their ceiling. How inspiring, strategic, or high-performing they can be on their best days. But what if the real measure of leadership is how you show up on your worst days?

This episode explains why raising your floor, how you behave under pressure, stress, fatigue, or frustration, shapes your team far more than occasional peak moments.

If your team were asked what it’s like to work with you on your best day, the answers might sound great. But what about your worst day?

Tommy explains why leadership is less about brilliance and more about consistency, predictability, and emotional safety. When leaders justify poor behaviour with pressure, seniority, or stress, the impact multiplies across the business.

Using practical frameworks, relatable examples, and real-world leadership psychology, this episode helps leaders identify their “floor behaviours” and provides tools to consciously raise them.

Connect with us:

Tommy Sim: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tommysim/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/injecthr

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@injecthr

Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/inject.hr/

 

Key Concepts Covered
Ceiling vs Floor Leadership
 Why avoiding destructive behaviours is just as important as building new leadership skills.


Why senior leaders get less feedback
As responsibility increases, accountability often decreases,making self-awareness critical.


The ripple effect of leadership behaviour
How small emotional lapses create anxiety, uncertainty, and disengagement across teams.


Predictability over perfection
 Why teams prefer consistency, even over charisma.



Leadership Frameworks & Models Discussed
John Maxwell’s Five Levels of Leadership
 Understanding how positional power can damage relationships if not managed consciously.


DISC Personality Profiles
 How each leadership style has a unique “floor” under pressure:
D (Dominant): Drive turns into force and aggression
I (Influential): Energy turns into chaos and confusion
S (Steady): Harmony turns into avoidance and silence
C (Conscientious): Precision turns into withdrawal and paralysis


Psychological Safety
 Referencing research by Amy Edmondson, highlighting how fear shuts down learning and performance.


Consistency vs Talent
 Illustrated through sport, including LeBron James, whose greatness comes from a high floor, not just high peaks.


Deliberate Practice
 Insights from Anders Ericsson on mastery being built through consistency, not flashes of brilliance.



Practical Tools to Raise Your Floor
Self-awareness in real time
 Identify your triggers before your reactions take over.


Manage energy, not just behaviour
 Why protecting your energy is essential when you’re always “on show”.


Open person policy (not open door policy)
 Being accessible with presence, not interruption.


Swap behaviours, don’t suppress them
 Replace destructive reactions with intentional alternatives.


The 4/10 conversation
 How having small, timely feedback conversations prevents explosive 9/10 confrontations.


Values under pressure
 Why leadership credibility is tested when things aren’t going well.



Listen & Watch
Watch the full episode on YouTube: Lead to Grow with Inject: https://youtu.be/YOXw7CmQ7y4

If you enjoyed this episode, follow, subscribe, and leave a 5-star review. It helps more leaders find the show and build better workplaces.

 

In this episode of Lead to Grow, Tommy Sim explores one of the most overlooked ideas in leadership development: your floor.
Most leaders focus on their ceiling. How inspiring, strategic, or high-performing they can be on their best days. But what if the real measure of leadership is how you show up on your worst days?
This episode explains why raising your floor, how you behave under pressure, stress, fatigue, or frustration, shapes your team far more than occasional peak moments.
If your team were asked what it&rsquo;s like to work with you on your best day, the answers might sound great. But what about your worst day?
Tommy explains why leadership is less about brilliance and more about consistency, predictability, and emotional safety. When leaders justify poor behaviour with pressure, seniority, or stress, the impact multiplies across the business.
Using practical frameworks, relatable examples, and real-world leadership psychology, this episode helps leaders identify their &ldquo;floor behaviours&rdquo; and provides tools to consciously raise them.
Connect with us:
Tommy Sim: <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/tommysim/">https://www.linkedin.com/in/tommysim/</a>
LinkedIn:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/injecthr">https://www.linkedin.com/company/injecthr</a>
YouTube:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/@injecthr">https://www.youtube.com/@injecthr</a>
Instagram:<a href="https://www.instagram.com/inject.hr/">https://www.instagram.com/inject.hr/</a>
&nbsp;
Key Concepts Covered
<ul>
<li aria-level="1">Ceiling vs Floor Leadership Why avoiding destructive behaviours is just as important as building new leadership skills. </li>
<li aria-level="1">Why senior leaders get less feedback As responsibility increases, accountability often decreases,making self-awareness critical. </li>
<li aria-level="1">The ripple effect of leadership behaviour How small emotional lapses create anxiety, uncertainty, and disengagement across teams. </li>
<li aria-level="1">Predictability over perfection Why teams prefer consistency, even over charisma. </li>
</ul>
Leadership Frameworks &amp; Models Discussed
<ul>
<li aria-level="1">John Maxwell&rsquo;s Five Levels of Leadership Understanding how positional power can damage relationships if not managed consciously. </li>
<li aria-level="1">DISC Personality Profiles How each leadership style has a unique &ldquo;floor&rdquo; under pressure:</li>
<ul>
<li aria-level="2">D (Dominant): Drive turns into force and aggression</li>
<li aria-level="2">I (Influential): Energy turns into chaos and confusion</li>
<li aria-level="2">S (Steady): Harmony turns into avoidance and silence</li>
<li aria-level="2">C (Conscientious): Precision turns into withdrawal and paralysis </li>
</ul>
<li aria-level="1">Psychological Safety Referencing research by Amy Edmondson, highlighting how fear shuts down learning and performance. </li>
<li aria-level="1">Consistency vs Talent Illustrated through sport, including LeBron James, whose greatness comes from a high floor, not just high peaks. </li>
<li aria-level="1">Deliberate Practice Insights from Anders Ericsson on mastery being built through consistency, not flashes of brilliance. </li>
</ul>
Practical Tools to Raise Your Floor
<ul>
<li aria-level="1">Self-awareness in real time Identify your triggers before your reactions take over. </li>
<li aria-level="1">Manage energy, not just behaviour Why protecting your energy is essential when you&rsquo;re always &ldquo;on show&rdquo;. </li>
<li aria-level="1">Open person policy (not open door policy) Being accessible with presence, not interruption. </li>
<li aria-level="1">Swap behaviours, don&rsquo;t suppress them Replace destructive reactions with intentional alternatives. </li>
<li aria-level="1">The 4/10 conversation How having small, timely feedback conversations prevents explosive 9/10 confrontations. </li>
<li aria-level="1">Values under pressure Why leadership credibility is tested when things aren&rsquo;t going well. </li>
</ul>
Listen &amp; Watch
<ul>
<li aria-level="1">Watch the full episode on YouTube: Lead to Grow with Inject: <a href="https://youtu.be/YOXw7CmQ7y4">https://youtu.be/YOXw7CmQ7y4</a></li>
</ul>
If you enjoyed this episode, follow, subscribe, and leave a 5-star review. It helps more leaders find the show and build better workplaces.
&nbsp;

Decoding how human success drives business performance with The People Principle. Hosted by Tommy Sim.

Decoding how human success drives business performance with The People Principle. Hosted by Tommy Sim.