Raising the Bar
THE PEOPLE BEHIND THE STORY
Every character you will meet in these pages is drawn from lived experience: the managers, the mentors, the disruptors and the silent heroes who shape what management really looks like on the ground.
Names have been changed but the behaviours, decisions and consequences are exactly as they happened.
So before the story begins, let’s meet them.
Meet Joe: Thrown in at the Deep End
Joe is just an average Joe manager. He never set out to be a manager. In his words, it just happened.
He was promoted because he was seen as having the right qualities: dependable, capable, positive and talented. But when he was offered his first management role, being thrown in at the deep end would be an understatement.
Joe inherited a poorly performing team plagued by absenteeism, weak performance and, worst of all, a bad apple called Peter.
Peter’s behaviour affected everyone. He had a history of undermining managers, manipulating team members and using others to fire the bullets for him. He had already forced out the previous manager through a grievance.
Joe was next.
Peter was also aggrieved that Joe got the manager’s job when he wasn’t even considered. To make matters worse, Joe’s own boss didn’t want him in the role not because Joe was unsuitable but because he wanted Peter appointed instead.
Joe isn’t a bully. He believes in fairness, giving people a chance and offering the benefit of the doubt.
But he’s no pushover either. His natural instinct is to face conflict, not avoid it.
He has the will but not yet the skill.
What unfolds is not a polished success story.
It’s a story of personal development under pressure.
And Joe could be any one of us.
Meet Alan: Joe’s Boss
Alan is a middle manager and Joe’s direct boss, responsible for two other line managers like Joe.
Alan wasn’t promoted on ability. He was promoted by force of circumstance. As one of the original line managers, he was pushed into a manager of managers role as the company grew.
Deep down, Alan knows he is not competent at managing managers and he works hard to ensure that fact is never exposed. As a result, he becomes a blocker of change and therefore a blocker of progress.
If Alan had a plaque on his desk, it would read:
“Challenging the status quo is not welcome here.”
Joe was not Alan’s choice for the role. He preferred Peter but was overruled by Ray, the Managing Director. Joe’s obvious leadership potential makes Alan feel insecure. If Joe succeeds, Alan sees competition for his own position.
Alan expects obedience, subservience and silence.
Joe challenges this and for that, Alan makes the message clear:
Fit in… or get moved on.
Meet Peter: The Bad Apple
Peter is the classic bad apple.
Behind the scenes, he poisons morale, dodges accountability and steadily erodes team confidence. He resents authority, hates being held to account and reacts aggressively when challenged.
He sees Joe, new and inexperienced, as someone he can manipulate, control and ultimately push out, just as he did with the previous manager.
Peter knows how to weaponise company culture. He understands that the organisation is risk-averse and avoids conflict. He uses this culture of fear to control others, including Alan and Justin in HR.
When Peter feels in control, he feels powerful and secure.
When that control slips, he becomes defensive, hostile and dangerous.
And he will stop at nothing to regain it.
Meet Ray: Alan’s Boss, Owner and Managing Director
Ray is the highly respected owner and Managing Director of the company.
He is in the process of selling the business and is increasingly concerned that the Sales and Administration department is damaging productivity, profitability and reputation and therefore the value of the company.
Ray appointed Joe on recommendation. He knew appointing a first-time manager was a risk but no other candidate demonstrated the courage and determination needed to tackle the entrenched problems.
Since Joe’s appointment, Ray has been receiving negative feedback about Joe’s suitability, mainly from Alan and Justin in HR. With no direct visibility of Joe’s day-to-day performance, Ray is dependent on others for accurate information.
He faces a decision: terminate Joe’s employment or give him a fair more time.
Ray chooses to have Joe independently assessed by appointing a coach to work closely with him and report back.
Meet Coach: A Wise and Trusted Advisor
Ray brings in Coach, a seasoned management development specialist, to uncover the real issues in the department and assess whether Joe is capable of tackling them.
Coach helps Joe clarify what’s really happening and identify the objectives that matter most.
He is a teacher, introducing Joe to The Raising the Bar Way, a modern, structured approach to performance management.
He is a coach, spending quality time building Joe’s confidence, competence and capability.
And he is a mentor, protecting Joe, sharing values, setting standards and standing firm when Joe comes under personal attack, caught between Peter, Alan and a culture of avoidance.
Without Coach, Joe would sink.
With him, Joe learns how to stay afloat and swim fast.
Meet Justin: Alan’s HR Manager
Justin isn’t interested in operations management. His ambition lies in climbing the corporate ladder and positioning himself for the boardroom.
Highly risk-averse, he interprets every issue as a potential threat to the organisation or to himself. This mindset makes him influential over Alan, who shares the same fear of exposure.
Together, they create a culture where poor performance is tolerated not because it’s acceptable but because managers are discouraged, unsupported and blamed when they try to address it and things go wrong.
Justin knows Peter is a bad apple.
But he doesn’t want Joe tackling him because it would create disruption and distract from Justin’s career ambitions.
Meet Julie: A New Breed of HR Professional
Julie replaces Justin and brings a completely different approach.
She reports into operations, keeping her close to the work and the reality managers face. A former manager herself, she understands pressure, time constraints and the emotional toll of leading people.
Julie doesn’t hide behind policy.
She interprets it.
Clarifies it and applies it with judgement.
She helps Joe implement The Raising the Bar Way a modern day approach to performance management. Her input shapes the process and embeds it into the department’s sub-culture.
She supports Joe through implementing politics and personal attacks. Their partnership becomes essential not just to Joe’s survival but to the transformation of the team.
Julie is everything an HR partner should be and everything Justin was not.
Meet Martin: The Non-Executive Director
What many executives overlook is that oversight of management conduct is a core responsibility of a Non-Executive Director, ensuring decisions are fair, evidence-based and free from bias.
When the inevitable grievance is lodged against Joe and bias begins to cloud the investigation, Ray turns to the one person with the authority and independence to restore fairness: his Non-Executive Director, Martin.
Martin has no history with the team, no loyalties and no political interests. That is his strength.
Because he doesn’t know Joe, Peter or Alan personally, Martin judges the situation on what matters most: facts, evidence and reason.
Using AIDE to cut through the smoke and mirrors, Martin identifies the grievance for what it is: spurious, unfounded and vexatious.
A deliberate attempt to discredit.
His involvement restores trust in the grievance process.
Meet AIDE: Joe’s Executive PA in the Sky
When Joe took on the role, he had no idea how much writing performance management would involve.
Like many managers, Joe’s Achilles’ heel was the written word. With limited confidence in his writing ability, he avoided putting things on paper even when documentation was essential.
Coach’s introduction of AI changed everything.
Joe christened it AIDE — Author-Initiated, Digitally Adjusted: his AI-powered admin assistant and behind-the-scenes advisor.
In the story, AIDE helps Joe:
-
Draft objectives and plans
-
Write letters
-
Clarify policy
-
Prepare for difficult conversations
-
Build professional paper trails
-
Analyse and defend grievances
AIDE doesn’t replace Joe. It empowers him.
It frees his time, sharpens his thinking, cuts through confusion and gives him a steady, objective voice when the system turns against him.
AIDE becomes his personal executive assistant, HR advisor and employment law guide, available 24/7.
AIDE is a game changer.
And for Joe, it becomes a best friend.