Two key characteristics of a great leader and coach are honesty and accuracy. The first phase in the Penumbra 4-step coaching and development technique, Preparation, is where you gather objective and accurate information about the performance issue to help you remain honest and accurate throughout your development initiative. To accomplish this, Preparation requires some analysis.

Self Analysis requires that we spend some time reflecting on how the issue affects or involves us personally. Ask yourself, how have I contributed to this performance issue? What part would my employee say that I have played? Am I approaching this issue objectively without bias or emotion? Subject Analysis requires that we spend some time reflecting on how the issue directly affects the employee. Ask yourself, in what ways have they been personally affected by their performance issue? What have they done to impact this situation, positively or negatively? What do they see as the benefit of change or the consequence of not changing?

Lastly, Problem Analysis requires that we spend some time analyzing the performance problem itself. Ask yourself, what contributing factors are at play? How has the environment influenced this situation? What affect does this have on the team? Underneath it all, is the performance issue merely a symptom of another problem?