{"id":19933,"date":"2022-05-10T18:38:20","date_gmt":"2022-05-10T18:38:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/getlighthouse.com\/blog\/?p=19933"},"modified":"2022-12-22T12:12:15","modified_gmt":"2022-12-22T12:12:15","slug":"fixing-a-struggling-star","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/getlighthouse.com\/blog\/fixing-a-struggling-star\/","title":{"rendered":"Fixing a Struggling Star - A Leadership Story"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>When is the problem not really THE problem? What do you do when your star employee on your team underperforms or disappoints you?<br><br>The easy answer would be to pounce and criticize. To focus on immediately correcting the issue. Yet, if you do that, you\u2019ll be making a big mistake. Instead, learn from a key lesson I stumbled on early in my career and dig a bit deeper.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image is-style-default\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-medium\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" src=\"https:\/\/getlighthouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/A8EA0306-0432-4B07-8458-DA7C3F007A6C-300x300.jpeg\" alt=\"Fixing a Struggling Star Employee\" class=\"wp-image-19935\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/getlighthouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/A8EA0306-0432-4B07-8458-DA7C3F007A6C-300x300.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/getlighthouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/A8EA0306-0432-4B07-8458-DA7C3F007A6C-1024x1024.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/getlighthouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/A8EA0306-0432-4B07-8458-DA7C3F007A6C-150x150.jpeg 150w, https:\/\/getlighthouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/A8EA0306-0432-4B07-8458-DA7C3F007A6C-768x768.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/getlighthouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/A8EA0306-0432-4B07-8458-DA7C3F007A6C.jpeg 1400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>In this week\u2019s episode, I share a personal story about how I learned much more than I originally planned when I had to give some tough feedback and coaching to a struggling star employee. You\u2019ll learn what the problem was, what I planned to do, where the conversation went instead, and why that made all the difference in the world. It helped me see how leaders can play the long game to win big with their people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"embed-container\"><iframe width=\"100%\" height=\"180\" frameborder=\"no\" scrolling=\"no\" seamless src=\"https:\/\/share.transistor.fm\/e\/a356209a\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Listen to our episode on fixing a struggling star employee:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>\u200b\u200b<a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/46J4CvswW95p3bs6zOu7yY\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><u>Spotify<\/u><\/a>\u200b\u200b\u200b<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\u200b<a href=\"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/creating-high-performing-teams\/id1602986064\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">\u200b<u>\u200b\u200b\u200bApple Podcasts\u200b\u200b\u200b<\/u>\u200b<\/a>\u200b<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\u200b<a href=\"https:\/\/podcasts.google.com\/feed\/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5zb3VuZGVyLmZtLzE4MjEwL3Jzcy54bWw?sa=X&amp;ved=0CAMQ9sEGahgKEwiApZXG4JP1AhUAAAAAHQAAAAAQvgI\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">\u200b<u>\u200b\u200b\u200b\u200bGoogle Podcasts\u200b\u200b\u200b\u200b\u200b<\/u>\u200b<\/a>\u200b<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\u200b<a href=\"https:\/\/www.stitcher.com\/podcast\/adulting-101-2\/creating-high-performing-teams\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">\u200b<u>\u200b\u200b\u200b\u200b\u200bStitcher\u200b\u200b\u200b\u200b\u200b<\/u><\/a>\u200b<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Lessons and links from today\u2019s episode:<\/h1>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/getlighthouse.com\/blog\/interview-tactic-hire-great-employees\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">hiring method I like to use&nbsp;(give&nbsp;them an assignment)<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Prepare for any 1 on 1 meeting to give feedback by following the Prepare Listen Act model:\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\" start=\"1\">\n<li>Learn the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/getlighthouse.com\/blog\/give-constructive-feedback-motivate-improve\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">step by step process in our blog post here.<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>And&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/creating-high-performing-teams.sounder.fm\/episode\/3-steps-for-feedback-that-improves-your-team\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">listen to Episode 2 for a hands on discussion about it.<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>When you have an issue with your team, make sure you check in how their world is going. You may find super important context out.&nbsp;<strong>Reserve judgment until you hear the full picture.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>If you make it safe to talk about issues<\/strong>, you may be surprised how candid, apologetic and open your team may be with you. This is priceless.<a href=\"https:\/\/getlighthouse.com\/blog\/psychological-safety-innovative-teams\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">&nbsp;(Learn&nbsp;about creating psychological safety here)<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Always look for the root problem.<\/strong>\u00a0Don\u2019t simply treat symptoms.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Ask why something disappointing may have happened and give your star employee the benefit of the doubt.&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>If your struggling star employee tells you they\u2019re overwhelmed. Believe them<\/strong>. It\u2019s hard to find replacement stars, so you\u2019re much better off taking care of them.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Lighten the load<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Make priorities clearer<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Give them a break if needed<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>All of these beat having to hire a replacement.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Yet, always maintain your standards.<\/strong>&nbsp;We still did ultimately talk about the recruiting issue, because it was a problem. But first we fixed the root issue.&nbsp;<br><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u200b<strong>PS: Don\u2018t miss your last chance to join our email-based Lighthouse Lessons program,&nbsp;<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/lessons.getlighthouse.com\/?utm_source=Lh%20Podcast%20Email&amp;utm_medium=Email&amp;utm_campaign=Lh%20Podcast%20Ep%2020%3A%20Fixing%20a%20Struggling%20Star\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>The 1 on 1s Master Class<\/strong><\/a><strong>, which starts this Thursday, May 12th.<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Don\u2019t miss out and seize the perfect opportunity to level yourself up as a leader with&nbsp;<strong>12 bite-sized, super-relevant, email-based lessons.<\/strong>&nbsp;Learn how mastering your weekly 1 on 1s can bring out the best in your team and fix your biggest problems as a manager, at your own pace, from wherever you are.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>This is also your last chance to purchase the&nbsp;<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/lessons.getlighthouse.com\/?utm_source=Lh%20Podcast%20Email&amp;utm_medium=Email&amp;utm_campaign=Lh%20Podcast%20Ep%2020%3A%20Fixing%20a%20Struggling%20Star\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>Lighthouse Lessons Group Edition.<\/strong><\/a>&nbsp;Help your fellow managers build bonds and collaborations with weekly discussion agendas that empower in-depth conversations about their newly gained knowledge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>\u200b<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/lessons.getlighthouse.com\/?utm_source=Lh%20Podcast%20Email&amp;utm_medium=Email&amp;utm_campaign=Lh%20Podcast%20Ep%2020%3A%20Fixing%20a%20Struggling%20Star\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>Sign up now: The 1 on 1s Master Class<\/strong><\/a><strong>\u200b<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Remember: This is your final opportunity to join our 1 on 1s Master Class.<\/strong>&nbsp;Never have an awkward, or unproductive 1 on 1 again, and do so at a price and time commitment any leader can afford. Reserve a spot for<strong>&nbsp;<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/lessons.getlighthouse.com\/?utm_source=Lh%20Podcast%20Email&amp;utm_medium=Email&amp;utm_campaign=Lh%20Podcast%20Ep%2020%3A%20Fixing%20a%20Struggling%20Star\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>you or your fellow managers now for our program starting this Thursday!<\/strong><\/a>\u200b<br>\u200b<br>\u200b<a href=\"https:\/\/lessons.getlighthouse.com\/?utm_source=Lh%20Podcast%20Email&amp;utm_medium=Email&amp;utm_campaign=Lh%20Podcast%20Ep%2020%3A%20Fixing%20a%20Struggling%20Star\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Check out the full lesson list here<\/a>&nbsp;and reserve a spot now.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When is the problem not really THE problem? What do you do when your star employee on your team underperforms or disappoints you? The easy answer would be to pounce and criticize. To focus on immediately correcting the issue. Yet, if you do that, you\u2019ll be making a big mistake. Instead, learn from a key [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":19935,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,35],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19933","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-other","category-creating-high-performing-teams-podcast"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/getlighthouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19933","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/getlighthouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/getlighthouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/getlighthouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/getlighthouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19933"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/getlighthouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19933\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22039,"href":"https:\/\/getlighthouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19933\/revisions\/22039"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/getlighthouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19935"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/getlighthouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19933"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/getlighthouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19933"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/getlighthouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19933"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}