Separate capacity from performance

Growth · Little Light original

A reliable person starts missing details. The first explanation is often performance: they need tighter goals, better habits, or more commitment. Yet their calendar is full, two roles were quietly combined, and every urgent request has been added without another responsibility leaving. Coaching the person cannot repair arithmetic the organisation refuses to see. Before treating a decline as an individual failure, examine the conditions around the work. Which commitments compete, where does focus break, and what would a reasonable week actually hold? Then choose: reduce the load, extend the time, add support, or accept a different standard. Clear expectations matter, but expectations are not clear when they assume unlimited capacity. Accountability should begin with an honest picture of what the job now requires. Sometimes someone needs feedback. Sometimes the system needs subtraction. Good leadership can tell the difference, and it does not ask a person to carry structural overload as proof of character.

Little Light