John is not making the grade – we need to “performance manage” him.

People come to work with huge potential though face all kinds of barriers which slow them down. Consequently, performance is much less than potential.

An effective leader or coach works with potential whereas most managers I see only have the time or inclination to look at performance. It’s a big generalisation though one I make having been immersed in the construction industry for over 37 years (now, 47 years)

I believe everything is connected and it’s the relationship between things rather than the things themselves that is the primary determinant of desirable or undesirable outcomes. For ‘things’ read people, read John. Sometimes I hear managers say ‘John is useless’ and ‘we can’t get good staff anymore; the quality is not there.’  I don’t know about that. I lead workshops with project teams and frequently work with creative and talent people and lots of them.

In my coaching I help my client resist identifying a single element or person as being the root cause of the problem and to see the whole system. This helps my client gain new perspective. We then work together to identify ineffective patterns and how to transform them.

Back to John, rather than ‘performance managing’ him – whatever that means – how about we look at the system in which he is trying to operate. Has he got a chance or is the system overwhelming his contribution?

John’s system will include things like: his work space and equipment, ‘the way things are done round here’, his boss (or bosses!) and key internal and external stakeholders, his family and social networks, the local and national sector pressures and the impact of global dynamics.

In my experience it is relatively easy to tweak the local system to unlock potential and virtually impossible to change John.