Someone on your team isn't hitting their numbers, and you need to do something about it. The instinct is to act fast — a pep talk, a warning, a plan to fix it this week. The problem is, acting before you've actually diagnosed what you're dealing with usually makes things slower, not faster, because you end up solving the wrong problem well.
Here's the order that actually works: diagnose first, then coach, then set a clear expectation, then watch what actually changes — not what gets agreed to in the room.
Step 1
Don't start with the assumption they're lazy
Poor numbers are a symptom. They're rarely the actual problem, and treating them as the problem itself — rather than a signal pointing at something underneath — is how managers end up addressing the wrong thing confidently. Before anything else, get curious rather than certain about what's actually going on.
Step 2
Diagnose what you're actually dealing with
Two performance problems that look identical from the outside can have completely different causes. A skill gap — they genuinely don't know how to do something well yet — responds to coaching. An effort gap — they know exactly how, and simply aren't putting in the work — doesn't. Treating one like the other is one of the most common, most exhausting mistakes new managers make.
Read the full diagnostic framework →
Step 3
If it's capability, coach it properly
Knowledge, skill, confidence, practice — all genuinely fixable through real coaching, not a single conversation. This is where most managers' instincts are actually right; the mistake is usually applying this approach to a problem that isn't really about capability at all.
Step 4
If it's effort, don't coach a motivation problem like a skill problem
More coaching doesn't fix someone who already knows how but isn't choosing to. The useful question here isn't "how do I teach this better" — it's whether you're working harder on their success than they are. If so, you've likely slipped from coaching into carrying, and carrying rarely fixes the underlying problem. It just hides it a little longer.
Step 5
Set a clear expectation
Vague improvement isn't checkable by either of you. What specifically needs to change, by when, and what does "good" actually look like — stated plainly, not implied. A conversation that ends without this is a conversation that will need to happen again, with less patience the second time.
Step 6
Watch behaviour, not agreement
"I understand" isn't improvement. Someone can agree completely with everything you've said and change nothing about what they actually do. The only real signal is what happens next, not what got said in the room.
Coaching that isn't working doesn't fail loudly. It just quietly keeps being the plan, long after it's stopped being one.
Step 7
Know when coaching isn't working anymore
A few honest signals worth checking yourself against: you're having the same conversation for the third or fourth time about the same specific issue. They agree every time, and nothing changes anyway. You've genuinely adjusted your own approach and the result is identical regardless. You've started quietly working around the underperformance — redistributing accounts, covering gaps yourself — rather than addressing it directly.
Read the full breakdown of what comes next →
Worth being direct about the limits of this article: what happens after coaching has genuinely stopped working — formal performance improvement plans, disciplinary process, anything that touches employment law — varies by company and by country, and isn't something to navigate from a leadership framework alone. That's the moment to lean on your own manager, HR, or whatever formal process your company actually has.
The Book
OH SHIT, I'M THE SALES MANAGER
Every step of this — diagnosing the real problem, coaching it properly, and recognising when it's time for something more serious — is covered in full in the book, alongside the other moments nobody prepares you for.
Get the Book →
Every promotion requires a new version of you. Managing someone through underperformance is one of the clearest tests of it — because it asks you to stay genuinely curious before you act, honest about what's actually working, and clear-eyed about when care and patience have stopped being the same thing.
