Take care of your people … your people will take care of your projects

Garvin Heerah

In the corridors of power, whether in corporate boardrooms, public sector agencies, or government ministries, leaders are often praised for their ability to deliver on projects, meet targets, and produce quarterly wins. Benchmarks, KPIs, and performance indicators dominate the conversation. But here’s a hard truth: projects don’t run themselves. People do.

If you fail to take care of your people, don’t be surprised when your projects fall flat, your productivity dips, or your “success” becomes unsustainable. The time has come for a transformational shift in how we lead one that prioritizes people development as the true engine of sustainable progress.

Beyond the metrics: People behind the performance

Yes, metrics matter. But behind every output, every deliverable, every innovation or successful rollout, there is a person. A worker. A team member. A public servant. A contractor. A thinker. A doer. And these individuals are not machines. They have:

• Emotions that affect morale

• Talents that need nurturing

• Potential that requires mentoring

• Lives outside of work that impact their energy within work

When leaders only focus on transactional outputs “complete the task, meet the deadline, stay under budget,” they reduce people to tools. Tools, when overused and under-maintained, eventually break down. What if, instead, we embraced a transformational leadership model?

Transformational vs. transactional leadership

Transactional leadership says: “Deliver this project. Meet this target. Hit this KPI.”

Transformational leadership says: “Let me invest in you so we can build something greater—together.”

This isn’t idealism, it’s strategy. The best-performing organisations, globally and locally, know that investing in people leads to exponential returns.

Consider Google’s famed “20% time,” where employees are encouraged to spend 20% of their time on passion projects. It produced Gmail, Google News, and AdSense. Look at Singapore’s civil service, where public officers are enrolled in lifelong learning programmes, fast-tracked for leadership based on merit and mentorship, not just seniority.

In Rwanda, post-genocide reconstruction prioritised community-based development programmes that trained local leaders at every level. The result? A country rebuilt not just with bricks—but with capacity.

Sustainable development starts

Trinidad and Tobago speaks often of sustainable development. But sustainability is not only environmental or economic. It is human. If you train your staff, they’ll perform. If you trust them, they’ll lead. If you listen to them, they’ll innovate. If you support them, they’ll stay. But ignore them, neglect their growth, micromanage their creativity, and soon you’ll be left with compliance not commitment. Too many organizations have become performance-obsessed and people-apathetic. It’s time to adjust that narrative.

People first is not soft

It’s smart. Investing in people development is not “nice to do” or a line item for HR to tick off. It’s a strategic imperative.

• Morale drives momentum.

• Mentorship multiplies value.

• Motivation sustains excellence long after bonuses fade.

In fact, studies by Gallup and McKinsey consistently show that organisations with engaged, empowered employees outperform those who treat staff as disposable or replaceable. Why? Because purpose trumps pressure. Every time.

Leaders, it’s time to check the mirror

Here’s the million-dollar question: Are you building systems or are you building people? Systems may outlast you, but it is people who breathe life into them. The best legacies are not in the buildings erected, the budgets balanced, or the timelines met they are in the lives elevated. If your leadership isn’t producing leaders beneath you, it’s just management in.

So here’s the call:

If you’re in a position of leadership take care of your people.

Speak vision into them. Create room for growth. Build capacity, not just compliance.

Run with the bold idea that people development is the bedrock of national development.

Because in the end, projects will start and end. Budgets will come and go. Trends will change. But people, when valued, will remember how you led them, how you lifted them, and how you believed in them. Take care of your people… and your people will take care of your projects.