How to Manage High Performers

Is there somebody on your team right now who used to be your best performer and lately it seems they aren't doing so well and you're dreading that conversation? Maybe because they're moving too fast and rubbing the rest of the team the wrong way, or because they're missing the mark and going in the wrong direction without your input, or maybe they never ask for your feedback.

Whichever it is or something else, let me tell you, I was one of those people.

Yeah.

And maybe you are too, and you know it.

Because managing high performers takes a completely different skill set than managing low performers.

That's right.

Managing high performers takes something totally different, a different skill set than managing low performers.

I worked with a chief people officer who had exactly this problem.

One of her senior directors had been an outstanding individual contributor and got promoted twice in three years and now was missing deadlines and not tracking details and only getting some of the work done and... challenging and questioning everything and this chief people officer was putting off the conversation for months and when I asked her why she said she didn't know how to tell somebody hey you're amazing and you aren't meeting my expectations It kind of felt micromanaging to her.

So most supervisors avoid this conversation because they're framing it as a personality or maybe even a culture fit problem.

And the more that they delay the discussion, the more the struggling leader feels more isolated and frustrated or even not taken care of.

And by the time that the conversation finally happens, maybe it happens in a performance review where consequences are attached instead of months earlier when it could have actually helped.

Or...

They get this great performance review because it's just like about their performance, right? But it doesn't include all those soft skills issues that are such a problem.

And so the tension mounts even though you said everything was fine.

So the usual advice in these kinds of situations is give direct feedback, address it early, right? That's true, but it kind of misses the challenge of working with highly talented people.

High achievers can get defensive.

They can hear your message and think they're failing, or they can hear your message and be dismissive if it's not delivered well.

But if you do it right, they can soar to phenomenal heights.

So here's how.

First, make it clear that you are trying to help them become even better.

And this is the WISE feedback method.

It is a research-backed communication strategy where you say, I have high performance standards for you.

I've seen what you can do.

And I'm only telling you this because I know you can reach even higher standards, higher level of work, higher level of effectiveness, right? And then...

Is there somebody on your team right now who used to be your best performer and lately it seems they aren't doing so well and you're dreading that conversation? Maybe because they're moving too fast and rubbing the rest of the team the wrong way, or because they're missing the mark and going in the wrong direction without your input, or maybe they never ask for your feedback.

Whichever it is or something else, let me tell you, I was one of those people.

Yeah.

And maybe you are too, and you know it.

Because managing high performers takes a completely different skill set than managing low performers.

That's right.

Managing high performers takes something totally different, a different skill set than managing low performers.

I worked with a chief people officer who had exactly this problem.

One of her senior directors had been an outstanding individual contributor and got promoted twice in three years and now was missing deadlines and not tracking details and only getting some of the work done and... challenging and questioning everything and this chief people officer was putting off the conversation for months and when I asked her why she said she didn't know how to tell somebody hey you're amazing and you aren't meeting my expectations It kind of felt micromanaging to her.

So most supervisors avoid this conversation because they're framing it as a personality or maybe even a culture fit problem.

And the more that they delay the discussion, the more the struggling leader feels more isolated and frustrated or even not taken care of.

And by the time that the conversation finally happens, maybe it happens in a performance review where consequences are attached instead of months earlier when it could have actually helped.

Or...

They get this great performance review because it's just like about their performance, right? But it doesn't include all those soft skills issues that are such a problem.

And so the tension mounts even though you said everything was fine.

So the usual advice in these kinds of situations is give direct feedback, address it early, right? That's true, but it kind of misses the challenge of working with highly talented people.

High achievers can get defensive.

They can hear your message and think they're failing, or they can hear your message and be dismissive if it's not delivered well.

But if you do it right, they can soar to phenomenal heights.

So here's how.

First, make it clear that you are trying to help them become even better.

And this is the WISE feedback method.

It is a research-backed communication strategy where you say, I have high performance standards for you.

I've seen what you can do.

And I'm only telling you this because I know you can reach even higher standards, higher level of work, higher level of effectiveness, right? And then...