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November 4, 2025 20 mins

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Leading a small team can be incredibly rewarding, but it can also test your patience and capacity when performance starts to slip. I’ve been there. As a leader, it’s easy to slip into frustration or burnout when you feel like you’ve communicated what’s expected and things still aren’t getting done.

In this episode of the Leveraging Operations in Leadership Podcast, I’m sharing how to manage underperformance without losing momentum—or your sanity.

I’ll walk you through my R.I.S.E. Framework, a practical system I’ve used with small teams and business leaders to help them reframe performance challenges and rebuild consistency.

Here’s something to think about: according to Gallup, only 47% of employees strongly agree they know what’s expected of them at work. That means more than half of your team may be operating without true clarity—and that’s not a performance problem, it’s a leadership opportunity.

If you’re a small-business owner, healthcare leader, or manager of a growing team, this episode will help you strengthen your leadership systems, set clear expectations, and build a team that performs without constant oversight or exhaustion.

🎧 Tune in to learn how to manage underperformance with clarity, compassion, and consistency so your small team can truly thrive.

Ready to lead your small team with clarity and confidence?

The Leadership Shift Coaching helps you communicate with purpose, delegate effectively, and build the structure your team needs to thrive.
Learn more at 👉🏾 https://go.cignalpartners.com/leadershipshift

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Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
Hello, and welcome back to the Leveraging
Operations and LeadershipPodcast, the show that helps you
build high-performing teams andsustainable systems without
burning yourself out in theprocess.
I'm your host, Tanya D.
Harrison, leadership and teamperformance strategist, the
shifter, and founder of SignalPartners.

(00:23):
Now, today I want to talk aboutsomething that every leader
faces at some point, and if youhaven't, you will.
But it is how to manageunderperforming employees.
And this can be it can be achallenge, but it doesn't have
to be.

(02:53):
Accountability for them, butalso accountability for you.
As someone who has worked incorporate for several years, um,
most of my career I spent inhealthcare administration.
And at that time I was inleadership and operations.
What I found as I moved from oras I was moved from department

(03:18):
to department, which I laterfound out that the reason why I
was moved so much is because Ihad figured out a way to turn
around underperforming teens andum and really just learned how
to navigate that space in a waywhere we were able to achieve

(03:44):
the performance goals that wewanted to achieve, but also we
were able to improve engagementin the process.
And I started to realize thatthere were some things that I
was doing over and over again,and um and I want to share that
with you today.
And I've broken it down into afour-part framework to make it

(04:08):
straightforward and easy, butthis is something that you can
apply when you think that youhave an underperforming team
member.
So before you try to fix theperformance, we want to start
with R.
So the framework is rise and itstands for reframe and reset,
identify, support, andestablish.

(04:30):
The R is for reframing and resetexpectations.
So before you try to fix theperformance, start by reframing
how you think about it.
Most people want to do a goodjob.
I truly believe that in my heartthat most people want to do a
good job.
When performance drops or it'snot where you expect it, it's

(04:52):
often feedback about the system,not defiance from the person.
And this is more times than not.
So as a leader, you want toreframe your mindset first,
shift from judgment tocuriosity.
I really want to investigate andfind out what be what's going
on, what might be getting of theway of this person's success.

(05:15):
Go into it believing that thisperson wants to be successful
and they want to succeed, andyou want to figure out what is
the obstacle, what is blockingthem from achieving the level of
success or the expectation thatyou that expect.
When you reframe, you now leadfrom understanding instead of

(05:41):
assumptions.
You you don't want to go into itassuming the worst.
You want to go into it.
I'm not assuming anything.
I want to understand what is.
When you do that, you turnunderperformance into data that
now you can act on.
Data about it, you're going intoit, you're seeking to

(06:02):
understand.
Remember this only about 47% ofemployees strongly agree they
know what's expected of them.
So it's important that as wemove into the second part of the
R, we think about reset.

(06:25):
And this is where you are goingto reset and you're gonna say,
you know what, I'm not going toassume that they knew what I
meant.
I'm not gonna assume that I wasclear, I'm going to make it
clear.
So once your mindset is in theright place, it's time to
realign expectations.

(06:45):
Ask yourself, have I clearlydefined what success looks like
right now?
Not a year ago, not when theyinitially took on the role,
right now, because thingschange.
Are the goals still measurableand relevant?

And then also think (07:01):
does this person know exactly what
outcomes they're accountablefor?
And if things have changed, doesthis person have the skill sets
that is needed to achieve theexpectations that I'm looking
for?
So resetting is about clarity,it's not about criticism.

(07:22):
This is an opportunity for youto just reset.
And when you're resetting andyou're having the conversation
with the person, you are beingspecific and time bound, right?
So ambiguity and being vague hasno place when we're doing the
reset.
If you're telling people thatthey need to be more responsive,

(07:46):
instead, be specific.
Respond to client emails withinone business day.
Period.
Be specific.
Now is not the time to be vague.
So this is an opportunity tomake sure that your expect
expectations are clear.
Honestly, you can clear up a lotjust by this first stage, right?

(08:13):
But say, for instance, things donot clear up, then you want to
progress to the next one.
And this is the I.
And here's where we're gonnaidentify the root cause of the
underperformance.
We need to understand exactlywhat it is that is happening.
You cannot coach somebody out ofunderperformance if you haven't

(08:34):
diagnosed what the problem is,right?
How do you successfully coachsomeone, manage someone, lead
someone from one position toanother when you don't
understand?
This is where you become adetective, a performance
detective.
You're looking beyond thesurface to find out why the gap

(08:54):
exists.
There's a couple of there's fourmain gaps that could exist, and
your job is to identify whichone is applicable so you know
what your next steps are.
Is it a clarity gap?
That's number one.
They don't know what toprioritize, right?

(09:16):
They don't know what successlooks like.
They so is it about providingclarity?
The second type of gap iscapability.
Do they lack skill skills ortraining?
Knowing this is extremelyimportant.
Like I said, this may besomebody that you hired two
years ago and they may have beenable to do the job two years ago

(09:40):
as it was, but it has evolved.
If their skill set hasn'tevolved, and if you haven't
provided additional training,they may need training, it may
be a capability gap.
The third type of gap is acommitment gap.
They've lost connection topurpose or leadership.

(10:04):
And the fourth gap, which a lotof people don't talk about, but
is extremely important and weneed to address, especially in
this day and time whenorganizations are laying off
people, is it a capacity gap?
That's real, they're overloadedor spread too thin.

(10:25):
As a leader, we need to figureout how to address that, and
that's a real gap.

So those are the four gaps (10:32):
a clarity gap, a capability gap,
commitment gap, or capacity gap.
When you identify the rootcause, now you can coach with
context, not criticism.

(10:53):
Okay, so those are the differenttypes of gaps.
Your job as a leader is to findout which one it is so that now
you can fill in the gap.
The S in Rise is support.
So now that you've identifiedwhere the gap is, now you want
to provide support.

(11:14):
And support could look a lot ofdifferent ways depending on what
the gap was.
But remember, support doesn'tmean you're not trying to rescue
them, you are resourcing, you'regoing to provide them what they
need in order to move past thisobstacle that you've identified
and be successful.

(11:35):
This could be coaching, uhtraining if they need additional
training, tools.
There may be some tools thatyou've identified that could
help with the clarity piece,whether it's a process or if
it's a capacity issue, it couldbe a matter of helping them
adjust the workload orsimplifying the systems that

(11:57):
slow them down.
There's a couple of differentways that you're going to
support them, but ultimately thegoal is to support them.
A part of that support includesa performance support plan.
This is not a punishment plan.
And I know that a lot of timespeople think that when you do a
performance support plan orperformance improvement plan,

(12:19):
that this is it.
We are on our way out, andthat's not the goal.
For me, it was about helpingsomebody get move past an
obstacle, especially if you havesomebody that was doing well and
now they have fallen into thisspace where they're not doing
well.
There could be so many reasonsfor that, and I want to do what

(12:42):
I can to help people move beyondthat.
When you are doing thisperformance support plan, of
course, you're going to documentany areas that need improvement,
but you're also going to makesure that you are doing your
part and being clear about whatsuccess looks like for each area

(13:03):
that they need improvement.
Also, you want to provide aclear timeline as to when things
need to turn around and committo weekly or bi-weekly check-ins
for progress and accountability.
If you want them to besuccessful, we have to do our
part too.
So it's not just a one-part,it's a two-part.

(13:24):
They have to do our part, wehave to do our part.
And then just remember, youknow, um, this is not a time to
beat somebody down.
Most of the time, when someoneis told that they're not meeting
expectations or not doing a goodjob, they're going to feel some

(13:44):
kind of way, right?
So we want to again make surethat we are supporting them,
making sure that we are rootingfor them, that they can come out
of this successful.
We want to be kind during theprocess.
Document documenting is just apart of what we need to do as
leaders, but make sure that youare using empowering language.

(14:09):
You know, here's what successlooks like this month.
What support do you need from meto get there?
And then when you are meetingwith them on a weekly basis,
talking about any wins andprogress that they've made,
making sure that they know thatthis is something that you want

(14:30):
to help them get through.
The key here is collaboration.
You're not doing the work forthem, you're creating the
environment for them to succeed.
They still have to do the work.
The last part, the last stage isthe E, which is established.
So, with established, this stepis about reinforcing

(14:51):
accountability and strengtheningstrengthening systems.
You've reset, you started out byreframing your mindset, and then
you reset by making sure thatyou have reset expectations and
everybody's on the same page.
You've identified what the rootcause is and you have identified
how you're going to supportthem.

(15:13):
Now it's time to establishfollow-up and consistency.
So, again, you know, we talkedabout setting check-in dates,
and during that time, you'regoing to evaluate progress and
you're going to be honest aboutit.
So, like I said before, you'regoing to celebrate wins, even
small ones.
But if improvement hasn'thappened, you have to be

(15:37):
genuine.
You have to be authentic and youhave to let them know that
progress has not been made.
Improvement has not been made.
And making sure that you'refinding out, like what you know
what's going on.
We've done these things, youknow what I mean.
Is it what part of it is nothelping?
What part of it do you needadditional assistance with?

(15:58):
Like, what can you do?
There's only so much that we cando.
Again, our goal is to providethe environment for them to be
successful.
You'll know, you'll know if it'sa fit issue during this process,
you're going to know.
And there may be times whereit's not a fit, and if you don't

(16:23):
have a role, that you may haveto um terminate employment.
So to me, that is the last thingthat we want to do, but
understanding that sometimes ithappens within leadership.
As for you, you want to makesure that when you look back on

(16:44):
this situation, however it ends,most of the time it usually ends
successful.
I could just say that from pastexperience.
I've had more success with goingthrough this process than not.
And like I said before, usuallyat the reframing and reset
stage, I'm able to clear up alot and then move on.

(17:04):
But once you get through thisprocess, you want to go back and
you want to reflect.
What did this situation revealabout your systems, about
communication, about onboardingand hiring is always an
opportunity to reflect and readand learn from it, right?
So um, every performance becauseevery performance challenge is a

(17:28):
feedback for the leader, too,right?
This is also feedback for us,and that's how operational
excellence and leadershipmaturity intersects.
We are making sure that we havethe leadership skills, but we're
also making sure that we havethe operational parts of it to
help people be successful.
So that is it.

(17:49):
That's that's the riseframework.
So just a quick, quick recap.
Um, the rise framework issomething that you could use
when you have identified whatcould potentially be an
underperforming team member.
And I said potentially becausesometimes it's not them
underperforming, it's our lackof processes and systems or lack

(18:11):
of clarity.
But you've identified thatsomeone's not meeting
expectations.

Here's what we're going to do: we're going to implement the (18:16):
undefined
Rise framework.
The R stands for reframing andreset.
So this starts with your mindsetand then level setting with
expectations.
The I is identify the rootcause, the real reason behind
the gap.
And I gave you four differenttypes of gaps.

(18:37):
The S is support throughstructure, right?
We're going to support themthrough structure, not stress.
And then E is establishaccountability and next steps.
And let me just say this aboutthe E when it comes to
accountability and next steps.
This is why one-on-ones isextremely important because if
you are effectively doing theone-on-ones, you could prevent

(19:02):
yourself from going through thisstep.
Because if we're having regularone-on-ones, we're already
talking about performance.
We are already talking aboutchallenges and gaps and all of
this stuff before it isidentified as an issue, right?
So that is a way to be proactiveand having those conversations

(19:23):
with your team members.
So that is it.
Um, and and like I said again,remember most underperformance
isn't about effort, it's usuallyabout clarity.
And when you lead with clarity,you give your team the best
chance to rise and besuccessful.
If today's episode resonatedwith you, please leave us a

(19:45):
review and share it with someonethat could use it, share it with
another leader.
And then also, if you want tolearn more about what I do and
how I do it, you can join theteam navigator.
The link is going to be in theshow notes.
Again, thanks for tuning in toLeveraging Applied Rations in

(20:07):
YouTube podcast.
And until next time, leave withclearly a peace.
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