If You Care About Your Team, Manage Their Performance
If giving feedback makes your stomach twist… you’re not alone.
Most leaders want to be kind. Supportive. Understanding. So when someone’s struggling, it’s easy to think:
“Let’s give it a little more time.”
“Maybe they’ll figure it out on their own.”
“I don’t want to hurt their feelings.”
But there’s a problem with that.
Avoiding the conversation might feel kind… but it isn’t.
In fact, it’s the fastest way to create confusion, resentment, and even surprise terminations (yes, for real).
Clear is kind. Unclear is unkind.
And real leadership is helping people grow even when it’s uncomfortable.
That means:
Setting clear expectations
Giving honest, timely feedback
Following a consistent process if performance slips
In HR-speak, this might fall under “progressive discipline.”
But we don’t need to call it that.
We can just call it what it is: good leadership.
I firmly believe nobody comes to work hoping to suck.
When we hold back honest feedback, we’re holding people back from getting better.
Here’s your challenge:
✅ Think about someone on your team who’s struggling right now
➡️ What’s one thing they may not know that would help them improve?
🗣 Say that thing. Early. Clearly. Kindly.
Want to get better at this?
This is the kind of thing we unpack in my leadership program, Lead to Win. It’s all about the practical side of leading teams. Clear expectations, accountability, and real results. No woo-woo fluff.
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Accountability and holding someone to expectations is not mean. But a surprise termination sure is.
Don't get me wrong. Holding someone accountable or giving feedback is hard to do. That does not mean you shouldn't do it.
Letting things slide or giving someone the benefit of the doubt over and over and over might feel like the nice thing to do. I work with amazing humans, so I hear it all the time.
People care about other people. They don't wanna hurt them. They want to give 'em opportunities to succeed. And they genuinely believe that everybody has value and can contribute and that right there is why accountability, clear expectations and following a clear and fair process when there's a performance issue is an absolute must.
I firmly believe no one comes to work hoping they suck.
When we are not upfront with somebody about the fact that they are not meeting expectations or they have room for improvement, we are actively taking away an opportunity for them to succeed and be really great at their jobs.
At the end of the day, performance management is about helping people be exceptional at their jobs. So [00:01:00] if you really care about your people and want to invest in them, be clear, be direct, and give them opportunities to improve.