The subtle difference between high and average performers
By Mensur Duraković
This is something I didn't understand until I became a manager, and I wish I had known it at the start of my career.
When you proactively follow up with your manager, when you send a quick message saying "hey, this is done," they feel a small wave of satisfaction and relief.
Something they were carrying just got resolved, and they subconsciously anchor that feeling to you.
You become the person who brings peace, the one who gives them fewer things to worry about.
The flip side
Now flip it around. When I have to chase you down to find out whether something is finished, the emotional payoff disappears.
Even if you say "yeah, I finished that yesterday," it doesn't land the same way, because I already spent my time and energy figuring out where things stood. The relief is gone before you ever confirm it.
The work might be identical. The outcome on the board is the same. But the experience of working with you is completely different, and that experience is what people remember when they think about who to trust, who to promote, and who to keep close.
Why it works
A manager's job is mostly carrying open loops. Did that get shipped? Is the client unblocked? Did anyone follow up on that bug?
Every unanswered question is a small tax on their attention, and that tax runs in the background all day.
When you close a loop without being asked, you remove one of those taxes. You're not just delivering work, you're handing back a piece of their mental bandwidth.
People feel that, even if they can't name it. Over months, those small moments add up into a reputation: this person is reliable, I don't have to babysit them, things are handled.
The average performer thinks the job ends when the work is done. The high performer knows the job ends when the right person knows the work is done.
How to actually do it
You don't need anything elaborate. A few habits cover most of it:
- When something is finished, say so. One line is enough: "Done, deployed, link here."
- If something is going to slip, say that early too. "This will land tomorrow instead of today" beats silence every time.
- Give status before it's requested, especially on the things you know are on someone's mind.
- Make the update easy to act on. Include the link, the result, the next step, so no one has to come back and ask.
Managers reward the people who make their lives easier, and a short "it's done" message is one of the simplest, most underrated ways to become that person.