Li Hongyi: Defining Real Performance, Avoiding Burnout & Building Accountable Teams – E638

BRAVE Southeast Asia Tech: Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, Philippines, Thailand & Malaysia Startups, Founders & Venture Capital VC (English)

Li Hongyi, Director of Open Government Products, and Jeremy Au discuss how leaders can define, measure, and sustain real performance within organizations. They unpack why clarity of purpose matters more than ambition, how to design fair and motivating systems, and how to prevent burnout in high-performing teams. Their conversation bridges lessons from public service and startups, showing how structure, accountability, and empathy build lasting excellence.

00:56 What is performance: Hongyi explains that success begins with clarity. Teams fail when they skip defining what “high-performing” means before chasing results.

03:15 Why clarity matters more than profit: In the public sector, lacking a clear anchor like profit causes teams to chase noise instead of purpose.

06:43 Designing the right metrics: He suggests tracking three to five key metrics that collectively prevent failure while balancing usability, reliability, and cost.

12:44 Communication through signposting: Hongyi shares that being explicit with intent by saying “this is advice” or “this needs to be done” reduces confusion and builds trust.

14:15 Rethinking performance reviews: Self, peer, and manager evaluations should gather information for better decisions rather than serve as political rituals.

27:00 The danger of over-promotion: Advancing too quickly can destroy confidence and create anxiety. Steady, sustainable growth builds stronger leaders.

31:00 Burnout and sustainable success: True progress comes from building skills, not just adding hours. Leaders must create space for learning and recovery.

Watch, listen or read the full insight at https://www.bravesea.com/blog/li-hongyi-measure-what-matters

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