When Performance Flatlines: How To Stabilize And Restore Momentum BY: MAARTJE VAN KRIEKEN Performance rarely collapses with fanfare. More often, it flatlines quietly; sales soften, productivity slows, priorities blur and yet teams run hard without moving the needle. In 2025 the RSM US Middle Market Business Index slid from the low 140s into the low 120s in a short period, with fewer than 4 in 10 firms reporting revenue gains and under half seeing higher earnings. In other words: the mid-market is squarely in the “flatline” zone, where value leakage be- comes a real threat. Leaders often sense the pulse weakening, more ef- fort with less return, yet underestimate how quickly value drains in this phase. Once value slips faster than it’s creat- ed, recovery in a volatile market becomes an uphill climb. A flatline rarely signals a lack of strategy or intelligence. More often, it means the system is overloaded, misaligned, or operating beyond true capacity and pushing harder only accelerates decline. Stabilization, not inspiration or transformation, is the most valuable move when performance stops responding. It’s the Emergency Room principle: stop the bleed, restore rhythm, then move into recovery. Stabilization is a cyclical discipline built around five practical elements: Prioritization, People, Practicality, Fit for Purpose, and Predictability. Done well, these 5 P’s stop value loss quickly and rebuild the momentum leaders ur- gently need. Prioritization: Stop the overload before it spreads: Most flatlines begin with well-intended overload: too many goals, too many initiatives, too much noise. Prioritization is the first stabilizer and it’s not a list but a diagnosis. Start with three questions that anchor value: • What directly drives value in our business? This shifts prioritization from opinion to purpose. They reveal what must be paused, stopped, or deprioritized, and what simply needs doing (assign & let go) versus what requires intelligence, coordination, or multidisciplinary in- volvement. This is where leadership bandwidth must go. Your outcome: A short, communicable definition of “What we work now and why.” People Re-activation And Empowerment: In a flatline, leaders often ask, “Who should do this?” The better ques- tion is: “Who realistically can?” People sit at different levels of capacity: • Who has energy left? • Who carries invisible load? • Who connects to critical stakeholders? • Who holds key insight, field knowledge, or client sig- nals? People don’t just hold tasks, they hold intelligence, CONTINUED ON PAGE 34 • Why now and all of it or only some? • Says who, and why does it matter?
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THE HAIRE GROUP www.hairegroup.com
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32 January 5, 2026
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