Belonging Before Performance: why culture eats capability for breakfast

Project teams are often pushed to deliver more, faster, and with tighter constraints. So we invest in tools, train for capability, bring in frameworks, and drive accountability. All of which matter.

But there’s one thing that’s often overlooked and it’s the difference between ticking boxes and real transformation: Belonging.

Belonging is the foundation that performance stands on. It’s the sense that “I’m safe here. I’m valued. I can speak up without fear.” It’s what gives people the confidence to show up fully, contribute ideas, challenge decisions, and trust one another.

Without it? Even your most capable team members will play small. Not because they lack skill, but because the environment tells them it’s not safe to use it.

Capability without culture falls flat

I’ve seen highly skilled project teams stall and not due to technical gaps, but because of relational ones. The sponsor had invested heavily in training, new software, and better reporting. But the team culture was cold. Conversations were transactional. Feedback was either ignored or weaponised. Trust was low. Performance stayed flat.

One government team I worked with had exactly this problem. Every visible metric said things should be progressing, but the team’s energy was flat. Engagement was low. Delivery was behind.

When I spent time listening to individuals across the team, a consistent pattern emerged: people felt their voices didn’t matter. The moment someone offered a fresh idea, it was either dismissed, deferred, or claimed by someone else. Feedback never circled back. Leaders made decisions behind closed doors. A few team members carried influence while the rest floated, quietly checking out.

After a leadership shift to focus on culture including more open forums, team co-design sessions, and creating space for conflict and contribution the same group began engaging differently. No new tools. No new training. Just an adjustment of psychological safety.

Capability hadn’t changed. But the culture had and so did the results.

The Performance Pyramid

Think of it like a pyramid:

• At the base is Belonging – the soil in which everything grows. Without it, nothing sticks.
• Next comes Behaviour – the ways people relate, communicate, collaborate, and solve problems.
• Then Capability – skills, systems, tools, frameworks.
• At the top is Performance – outcomes, results, resilience.

The mistake we make is trying to build the top layers while ignoring the base.
You can’t stand on a peak that isn’t supported.

A culture where people can breathe

Theodore Roosevelt once said, “No one cares how much you know, until they know how much you care.” That couldn’t be truer in project environments.

If people are constantly watching their backs, checking how their ideas will land, or withholding feedback to protect themselves, they can’t contribute at full capacity.

Real performance comes from courage, creativity, and connection – and those don’t thrive in fear-based cultures.

Belonging allows people to breathe. It gives them room to test ideas, take risks, and recover from setbacks because they trust they won’t be punished for being human.

Leaders set the climate

The good news? Belonging is built in everyday actions:

• Listening actively when someone speaks.
• Checking in on how people feel, not just what they’ve done.
• Encouraging disagreement, without punishment.
• Recognising effort and progress, not just outcomes.

Leaders shape the emotional tone of a team. When you create a culture of care, you unlock the power of capability.

What to ask yourself

If you’re leading a project team, pause and reflect:

• Who’s holding back right now and why might that be?
• What signals are we sending about whose voice matters?
• Are we rewarding performance without building trust?
• Are we over investing in tools and under investing in team dynamics?

These aren’t soft questions. They’re strategic ones because culture drives behaviour and behaviour drives results.

Culture eats capability for breakfast

Performance is more than a KPI. It’s the visible result of invisible conditions.
The strongest condition you can cultivate is belonging.

When people feel like they truly belong, they don’t just deliver.
They commit. They collaborate. They stretch. They surprise you, in the best ways.

How are you nurturing belonging in your project team right now?