How to Address Performance Drops

Your team just missed targets. And your first instinct is about to make it worse. You're feeling the pressure. Budget cuts are coming. So, you do what every panicked leader does: → Push harder → Extend hours → Micromanage everything → Demand daily check-ins Here's what you just did: You optimized for looking busy instead of getting results. The teams that turn around underperformance don't add more pressure. They remove it. Here's the playbook: 1. Diagnose before you prescribe- Stop guessing. Meet 1:1 with each person and ask: "What's blocking you from your best work?" The answer is never "not enough hours." 2. Kill 30% of your initiatives- Your team is drowning. Cut the bottom third of projects immediately. Every "yes" without a "no" is just another anchor. 3. Remove friction, not people- Map your workflow. Find the approvals, handoffs, and meetings that slow everything down. Then delete them. 4. Rebalance workload now- Your top performers are doing 3x the work of everyone else. That's not sustainable. Redistribute or start writing job postings. 5. Lead the outcome, not the activity- Pick ONE metric that moves the business. Let your team figure out how to move it. Then get out of their way. Great leaders don't push harder when results slip. They clear the path so their team can run faster. When your team underperforms, what's your first move? Follow Shirley Braun , Ph.D., PCC for insights on leadership and transformation that sticks in Tech and Biotech.

I've recently suffered a major career setback. Since I teach about high performance and career growth, I want to share how I am addressing it. One day you will need this recipe yourself! My goal in my current "career" is to reach as many people as I can, and to help them achieve career success and satisfaction. For the last three years, the way to do this has been through LinkedIn. Unfortunately, LinkedIn recently made some unknown changes to their algorithm. Other Top Voices and I have noticed a drop of 70% to 80% in the reach of our posts. Since my goal is to share my knowledge with more people, that means my goal just took an 80% hit. In general, setbacks in performance are either due to: A) Something we did Or B) Something external, outside our direct control Mistakes, poor decisions, and missed deadlines are examples of A. They are in our control. Things like Covid, high interest rates, and reorganizations at work are examples of B, outside our control. LinkedIn's change is also case B, outside my control. When a setback comes from something in your control, you know clearly what you did wrong and what you need to change to restore your performance and progress. Fixing your own issues may take time and be difficult, but you know what to do. When the setback is due to something outside your control, you do not know how to fix the issue. So, how can we react when our performance is shattered and we do not know why? Here is my recipe: 1. Allow yourself a fixed amount of time to grieve (and complain if you wish). Emotions are real, and before you can move on you will need to sit with those emotions. But, do not get stuck in them. Curse your bad luck, pout for a minute, etc. Then, move to the next step. 2. Refocus on your core value. Whatever happened, go back to how you define high performance to ensure it is still relevant. I admit, I slipped into defining my own performance by how many people viewed my LinkedIn posts. This was a mistake. My mission is to help others, so getting views is a proxy, not a result. And, using LinkedIn is just a method for the mission, not the mission itself. 3. Adapt your core value if you must (if its value has decreased). In my case, the value of what I offer hasn't changed, the external delivery system has. 4. Once you adapt and/or increase your value, find new ways to deliver it if necessary. Luckily, I have other options for reaching people: my Substack newsletter, YouTube, etc. Since Substack has been such a good partner recently, I will start there. I have also refocused how I write on LinkedIn to make every post focused on my goal. 5. Test, measure, adapt, repeat! Really, this step is everything. Once you get past the grief, jump into action in this loop. Nothing can stop you if you keep working to refine, deliver, and showcase your core value. Comments? Here's my newsletter, which is my next area of investment: https://lnkd.in/gXh2pdK2

Are you expecting higher performance without redesigning the system that produces it? Fact: Performance pressure has increased. Operating clarity has not. Over the past year, many organisations have reduced headcount while tightening performance expectations. That combination is not neutral. It changes how leadership must operate. What’s failing is not motivation. Not work ethic. Not capability. What’s failing is the operating logic under pressure. Leadership teams are demanding faster execution while keeping the same number of priorities, the same decision bottlenecks, and adding urgency on top of ambiguity. 🔍 The result is predictable: • People expend more effort • Decisions take longer because authority is unclear • Quality declines through rework and risk-avoidance • Critical issues surface late, when options are narrower ❌ This is activity under strain, not performance. The organisations holding up are not pushing harder. They are redesigning how work moves. 👉 If you manage people, lead initiatives, or want to influence change, act on these three points: 1️⃣ Reduce the system’s load Define the two outcomes that matter in the next 30–60 days. Formally pause or stop work that competes with them. Performance improves when capacity matches intent. 2️⃣ Reassign decision rights Identify decisions still escalating by habit rather than risk. Move ownership to the lowest sensible level and make it explicit. Speed follows clarity. 3️⃣ Specify standards, not urgency Replace “as fast as possible” with explicit criteria for quality, scope, and trade-offs. People execute well when success is defined, not when pressure is increased. 📌 This is the leadership work of this moment. Not motivation. Not charisma. Not urgency. Structural clarity under constraint. 🧠 Culture is a critical part of this system work — I’ll address that explicitly in later posts. Before asking for more output, ask: 👉 What ambiguity am I still tolerating in the system I lead? That’s where performance is currently being constrained.

In many organizations, when performance drops, the reflex is predictable: Change the person. Hire. Fire. Replace. Repeat. The unspoken assumption is simple and lazy: “People are the problem.” In reality, most performance failures have little to do with individual effort and a lot to do with: broken or unclear systems poorly designed targets confused accountabilities a culture that punishes truth and rewards compliance and yes, sometimes the sponsor or leader sitting above the role Yet we keep hoping for a "knight in shining armor" A silver bullet hire who will magically fix a fundamentally broken setup. That almost never works. Good people fail in bad systems. Average people can perform exceptionally in well-designed ones. Before concluding that “this person isn’t delivering,” pause and ask: Is the system enabling success or quietly sabotaging it? Are goals realistic, aligned, and controllable? Is the environment safe enough to surface problems early? Is leadership part of the solution, or part of the constraint? If you don’t fix the root cause, changing people only resets the clock. The problem returns. The cycle continues. And credibility quietly erodes. People are rarely the first problem. They’re usually the last symptom. #FRspeaks #Leadership #Transformation #Performance #Culture #SystemsThinking

I learned this lesson the hard way: most performance issues are clarity issues in disguise. Many years ago, I had a strong employee who suddenly started missing expectations. My first thoughts: → Are they disengaged? → Are they not prioritizing well? → Do they need more accountability? But when we actually talked, the root cause was something different: → They weren’t clear on what “good” looked like. → They didn’t know what mattered most. → They didn’t fully understand how their work tied to the bigger picture. So we fixed the clarity problem. Here's what I did: → Created very clear, documented work quality guidelines → Ran workshops with the team to coach them on quality, goals, and how their work tied directly to business outcomes → For every employee, I created a list of tactical things they should own daily, weekly, monthly, and quarterly, with every task tied to a KPI or business outcome This employee's performance turned around quickly—and the entire team became more engaged and motivated, which drove better results. We hit record revenue and EBITDA that year, in part because my team became obsessed with moving the needle on the right things. Before assuming you have a performance issue, ask: where can I add clarity? How do you provide clarity for team? Any frameworks or methods that work especially well? #leadership #mentorship #coaching #management #communication #clarityiskindness

Poor performance is often a leadership issue in disguise. It’s easy to point fingers: “She’s not delivering.” or “He’s not meeting expectations.” And sure, sometimes that’s true. But quite often, the problem isn’t the person. It’s the context they’re operating in. Here are 12 reasons performance dips - and what to do about them: 1. Unclear Expectations ↳ They’re unsure what ‘good’ looks like, or the target keeps shifting. ↳ Fix: Get clear and consistent about goals, timelines, and standards. 2. Overwhelming Workload ↳ They’re spread too thin to focus or deliver quality work. ↳ Fix: Prioritise ruthlessly. Help them focus on what really matters. 3. Shifting Priorities or Organisational Chaos ↳ They’re doing their best - but the ground keeps moving. ↳ Fix: Help them re-focus and navigate the change with clarity. 4. Skills Mismatch ↳ They’re in the wrong role or using the wrong strengths. ↳ Fix: Assess their strengths and realign tasks or responsibilities where possible. 5. Lack of Feedback or Coaching ↳ They’re flying blind with no idea what’s working - or what isn’t. ↳ Fix: Give regular, constructive feedback and coaching support. 6. Burnout or Low Motivation ↳ They’re exhausted, disengaged, or just going through the motions. ↳ Fix: Check in. Look for signs of burnout and re-engage them with purpose or support. 7. Personal or Mental Health Challenges ↳ Life outside work may be affecting performance - but they may not feel safe to share. ↳ Fix: Lead with empathy. Offer support, not assumptions. 8. Poor Onboarding or Training ↳ They never got the foundation needed to succeed. ↳ Fix: Revisit the basics. Don’t assume they know - ask and offer help. 9. Lack of Psychological Safety ↳ They’re holding back out of fear - of making mistakes, speaking up, or being judged. ↳ Fix: Create a safe space where questions and failures are part of growth. 10. Toxic Team Dynamics ↳ Conflict, exclusion, or lack of collaboration may be sabotaging their work. ↳ Fix: Pay attention to team culture and intervene early. 11. No Growth Opportunities ↳ They feel stuck, stagnant, and like their efforts don’t matter. ↳ Fix: Talk about career development and learning pathways. 12. Micromanagement ↳ They’ve lost all autonomy and motivation to take ownership. ↳ Fix: Step back. Empower them to lead their work and make decisions. Judgement is easy. Curiosity takes more effort - but it leads to actual solutions. So if someone on your team is underperforming… pause. Start by asking: What’s really going on? You might be surprised by the answer. The real question is - do you have the courage to recognise it? ➡️ Have you ever uncovered a surprising reason behind poor performance? Let me know in the comments below. ♻️ Repost this to help your network lead with curiosity instead of judgement. Follow Tréasa Fitzgibbon Fitzgibbon for practical career and leadership strategies that challenge the status quo.

Most performance problems are culture problems wearing a process costume. Leaders often respond to missed targets with more planning, more meetings, more tools. The friction remains because the foundation stays untouched. Here’s the chain most organisations live inside: Culture → Clarity → Alignment → Execution → Results. When culture is weak, clarity gets fuzzy. People stop asking the “stupid questions” because it feels unsafe, or pointless, or political. So assumptions multiply. Then alignment becomes performative: everyone nods in the meeting, then prioritises differently on Monday. Execution slows because decisions get revisited, handoffs get messy, and good people protect themselves with caution. The numbers follow. CULTURE CREATES THE CONDITIONS. Working on culture does not mean posters, values workshops, or “being nice”. It means reducing ambiguity and fear so people can move. A practical way to spot where culture is costing you: Look for repeated rework. Look for decisions that keep coming back. Look for silence in meetings. Those are cultural signals, not operational glitches. When those pieces are strong, something powerful happens. You get discretionary effort. You get clean ownership. You get speed without chaos. Next leadership meeting, take one missed KPI and trace it backwards along the chain: Results → Execution → Alignment → Clarity → Culture. Where does the first breakdown happen in your organisation: unclear priorities, misaligned teams, or a culture that makes honesty expensive? So where does Cultiv8tiv come in? We measure and analyse organisational culture…