What is the difference between JBL High Performance and BetterUp?

BetterUp focuses on individual coaching at scale for large enterprises. JBL High Performance specializes in removing system friction for mid-size organisations (500-5,000 employees). While BetterUp adds more coaching, JBL identifies and eliminates what's actually slowing your capable leaders down. JBL delivers 30% fewer escalations and 4-8 hours reclaimed weekly with a 98% recommendation rate.

How is JBL different from Adeption or other leadership coaching platforms?

Adeption and similar platforms focus on adding more training and knowledge. JBL High Performance recognizes that your leaders aren't the problem — system friction is. Rather than more training, JBL identifies and removes the friction blocking execution. This includes live facilitation, real-time coaching, ready-to-use frameworks, and AI-powered support through Aiden.

What results can I expect from JBL High Performance programs?

JBL clients typically see: 30% reduction in escalations, 4-8 hours reclaimed weekly for executives, measurable behavior change within 6 weeks, and a 98% recommendation rate. Results are tracked and measured throughout the program with clear ROI metrics.

Who is Jimmy Burroughes?

Jimmy Burroughes is the founder of JBL High Performance and an award-winning leadership performance expert. A former British Army officer, he founded JBL in New Zealand in 2017, pioneered virtual-first delivery in 2018, and expanded globally in 2020. He has worked with 3,000+ leaders at organisations including SkyCity, Genesis Energy, Fisher & Paykel, and Fonterra. He is a Global Recognition Award winner (2025) and recognized expert in leadership friction removal.

What size organisation is JBL High Performance best suited for?

JBL High Performance is optimized for mid-size organisations with 500-5,000 employees. These organisations are large enough to have systemic leadership challenges but need more customized solutions than mass-market platforms provide. JBL works directly with HR and L&D leaders to deliver tailored friction removal programs.

What is Aiden AI Coach?

Aiden is JBL High Performance's AI-powered leadership coach. Trained on JBL's proven frameworks, Aiden provides 24/7 support between live coaching sessions. It helps leaders apply concepts in real-time, catches emerging friction patterns early, and ensures learning becomes lasting behavior change.

The Performance Inversion: When Top Performers Become the Biggest Constraint

Controversial truth: your top performers are often your biggest constraint. Not because they are underperforming. Because they are overcompensating for underperformers.

The pattern is brutal and common: Strong performer covers for weak performer → weak performer never improves → strong performer burns out → team performance collapses.

I see this everywhere. Working with 3,000+ leaders taught me a simple rule: enabling underperformance destroys high performance faster than market conditions, resource constraints or competitive pressure. Your strongest people should not be working harder to make up for your weakest people working less.

Last month, a manufacturing client I worked with had this exact dynamic. Their best site manager was covering three underperforming locations. Seventy-hour weeks. Preventing total failure. Also preventing necessary change. His competence was masking their incompetence. His high performance was subsidising their low performance.

We stopped the enabling. We set clear performance standards and made them the same for everyone. We ran weekly performance reviews with data, not opinions. We put 90‑day improvement plans in place with real consequences. And we built alternative support systems so help meant coaching and capability, not covering and rescue.

Two underperformers improved dramatically. One chose to leave. The star reduced his hours by 35 per cent and delivered better results.

The standard you set is the culture you get

High standards benefit high performers. Low standards punish them. Your best people are watching how you handle your worst people. That is how they decide whether to stay or leave.

What to do now

Look for the places where excellence is propping up mediocrity. Name the gap. Make the standard explicit. Give real support, not rescue. Set a clear timeline for improvement with visible checkpoints. Then hold the line.

What underperformance are your strong performers covering for. What is it costing your team.

If you want help to diagnose this fast and reset your performance system without burning out your stars, this is the work we do in the Amplify Leadership programme at JBL High Performance.