Underperformance Isn’t Always What It Seems
Oct 06, 2025One of the most common questions leaders bring to coaching is this:
“What should I do about an underperforming team member?”
At first glance, it seems like a complex problem—one that demands action, intervention, or consequence.
But more often than not, it’s not that complicated.
What makes it feel heavy is a quiet, familiar human habit:
We build a story about the person.
A mental file of missed deadlines.
A collection of near-misses and underwhelming updates.
Patterns we’ve observed—and repeated to ourselves—over time.
This becomes the narrative. And it starts to shape how we lead that person.
But here’s the problem: by the time you’re doing this, you’re already in chapter 10 of the story.
And what you’re not doing is asking:
What happened in chapters 1 through 9?
The context is the clue.
Those earlier chapters—often ignored—hold the information that matters most:
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A sudden change in expectations
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A loss of clarity around role or purpose
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A missed opportunity to give real-time feedback
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A personal challenge they never felt safe enough to name
Without context, underperformance looks like a fixed trait.
But with it, it often looks like something else entirely:
A breakdown in connection, communication, or clarity.
Most leaders try to fix what’s visible.
But the real shift happens when you pause, step back, and ask a different question:
What journey brought us here?
Because once you see it as a journey—not a snapshot—you get access to better choices:
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You respond with understanding, not frustration.
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You reset expectations with clarity, not blame.
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You unlock progress—not just for the individual, but for the relationship.
And more often than not, that’s where the shift begins.
I see this play out frequently in coaching. And frankly, it’s not hard for me to spot—because I’m emotionally neutral. I don’t carry the story. That allows me to see where the algorithm of human interaction has gone slightly out of sync.
And once that’s clear, the path forward usually is too.
If you’re facing this challenge with someone on your team, and you’re ready to explore what might be hiding in the earlier chapters—let’s talk.
Because underperformance isn’t the end of the story.
It’s just a sign that you may have missed part of it.