Supporting Growth Starts with Seeing It Clearly

When someone on your team isn’t quite where you want them to be yet, the instinct is usually to act.

Adjust your communication.

Give them a different kind of opportunity.

Lean into what you know about how they prefer to work.

Those instincts are rooted in a genuine effort to support people well.

But they can also lead us to move too quickly to a solution—before we’ve fully understood what’s actually going on.

It can be easy to look for the quick fix. To make assumptions about what will help.

“They’re missing deadlines? I just need to check in more.”

“They’re not proactive? I should add more reminders or structure.”

Sometimes those things help.

Sometimes, though, we're solving just for what’s visible—without fully understanding what’s actually going on underneath.

That part requires us to slow down and look a little deeper.

Because not every gap is the same, and how you support someone depends on what you’re actually seeing.

Most of the time, what we’re seeing isn’t a lack of effort. It’s a mismatch between what the work requires and where someone is in their development.

And the more your team grows, the more important it becomes to recognize these differences—not just in individuals, but in how your leaders are developing others.

What should you look for?

1. Are they missing something they need to know?

Sometimes the opportunity is simply about knowledge. They may not have the full picture—what “good” looks like, how a process works, or why something matters in the broader context.

What to watch for:

Hesitation. Basic or repeated questions. Inconsistent execution.

What to ask:

• Have I clearly defined what success looks like?

• Have they seen an example of this done well?

• Am I assuming they know something I’ve never actually explained?

2. Do they need more practice to build consistency?

Sometimes they understand the expectation—but can’t deliver it consistently yet. That’s not a lack of effort. It’s a skill that hasn’t been fully developed.

What to watch for:

Strong starts followed by missed steps. Uneven results. Progress that isn’t quite sustained.

What to ask:

• Have they had enough opportunities to practice this?

• Am I giving feedback that helps them improve, not just evaluate?

• Have I stayed engaged long enough to help them build confidence?

3. Have they developed the thinking skills this work requires?

Sometimes the opportunity isn’t about what someone knows—or even what they can do. It’s about how they’re processing the work in front of them. At different levels of responsibility, the expectations shift. It’s not just about completing tasks—it’s about connecting dots, applying what you know in new situations, and seeing how your work fits into a broader context.

What to watch for:

Work gets done—but only the piece directly in front of them. Challenges when asked to adapt or apply something in a new way. A tendency to wait for direction instead of anticipating what comes next.

What to ask:

• Do they understand how their work connects to others on the team?

• Have they had opportunities to apply this in different contexts?

• Am I asking questions that stretch their thinking—not just checking for completion?

Taking a few extra minutes to figure out which of these you’re seeing can save you weeks of frustration—on both sides.

If someone isn’t anticipating what’s next—and we respond by adjusting how we communicate or giving them more opportunities that align with their preferences—we may make the environment more comfortable…

…but we haven’t necessarily helped them grow.

Frameworks that help us understand people are valuable. They give us a starting point.

But leadership shows up in what we do next. In how we pause long enough to understand what’s really behind the moment we’re seeing—and respond in a way that actually moves someone forward.

The next time someone on your team isn’t quite meeting the mark, take a step back and ask yourself:

• Do they not know what to do?

• Can they not do it yet?

• Or are they thinking about it at the wrong level?

Because each of those points to a different kind of opportunity. And the more clearly you can see it, the more effectively you can support it.

Your job isn’t just to support your team. It’s to start asking better questions and paying closer attention.

It’s to see them clearly enough to support them the right way.

And more often than not, the difference comes down to diagnosing the problem before you try to solve it.