Great Leaders Help People Rise

Every leader eventually faces the uncomfortable moment when a direct report keeps missing expectations.

Deadlines slip. Deliverables wobble.

In that moment, it can be tempting to think, "Maybe I just need a different person in this role."

Sometimes, that may ultimately be true. But before jumping to replace them, great leaders pause and ask a more important question:

Did we do everything we could, to set this person up for success?

Because performance problems are not always people problems. Sometimes they are clarity problems. Training problems. Resource problems. Life-is-currently-on-fire problems. Or "no one ever told me that was the expectation" problems.

Great leadership means slowing down long enough to tell the difference.

The Success Checklist Every Leader Should Run Through

Before moving toward disciplinary action, termination, or emotionally composing a job posting in your head, consider these questions.

1. Have you asked how they are doing?

This sounds basic, but basic things are often the first things we skip when we are busy.

A person who is underperforming may be dealing with grief, a medical issue, burnout, family stress, or some other invisible burden they have been trying very hard to carry quietly.

That does not mean expectations disappear. But context matters.

A compassionate conversation can reveal whether the issue is performance, capacity, support, accommodation, or simply a human being going through a very human season.

2. Have you asked how they think the work is going?

You may be surprised by the answer.

Sometimes the employee already knows things are not going well and can explain exactly why. Maybe they are stuck, overwhelmed, unclear on priorities, or waiting on someone else before they can move forward.

And sometimes they think everything is fine.

That is also useful information; a bit concerning, but useful. If they do not know there is a gap, they cannot close it.

3. Have you made the performance gap clear?

One of the great myths of leadership is that people can read our minds.

They cannot.

If someone is missing expectations, they need specific feedback. Not vague feedback like, "You need to step it up," which is the workplace equivalent of saying, "Just be better somehow."

Instead, be clear:

• What task or behavior is not meeting expectations?
• What does success look like?
• What needs to change?
• By when?
• What support is available?

Clarity is not unkind. In fact, clarity is one of the most respectful things a leader can offer.

Clarity creates capacity.

4. Have you coached them specifically?

Coaching is more than saying, "Let me know if you need anything."

Good coaching is specific, practical, and repeated when necessary. ("Please make 100 blue widgets and log them in the spreadsheet by Tuesday.")

Have you walked through the task with them? Shown examples? Explained what "good" looks like? Checked for understanding? Followed up? And perhaps most importantly: have you coached them on this exact issue, not just hoped they would somehow absorb expectations?

5. Do they actually have the resources to succeed?

Sometimes people are underperforming because they do not have what they need.

Their laptop is dying a slow and dramatic death. Their onsite internet connection is held together by optimism. Another department stopped providing a key input. A software update quietly removed the one feature that made the whole process work.

Before assuming someone cannot do the job, make sure the job is actually doable.

Great leaders remove obstacles. They do not simply stand nearby asking why everyone is tripping.

Support First. Then Decide.

When leaders walk through these questions honestly, they often discover something important: the employee may not have been set up for success after all.

Maybe they needed clearer expectations. Maybe they needed more direct coaching. Maybe they needed tools, training, accommodations, or a better understanding of priorities.

And sometimes, even after all of that, the employee still does not improve.

That happens too.

But when it does, the leader can move forward knowing they did not skip the most important part of leadership: giving the person a fair chance to rise.

Great Leaders Create the Conditions for Success

The best leaders do not lower the bar. They make sure people can see the bar, understand the bar, have the tools to reach the bar, and are not standing in a hole while being asked to clear it.

Accountability matters. So does humanity.

Great leaders hold both.

So before you decide someone cannot succeed, ask yourself:

Have I done everything I reasonably can to help them rise?

And then the bigger question: What kind of leader do I want to be?