366 4 Questions Every Leader Needs to Ask Before Giving Feedback (Communication Skills That Work)

To learn more about the Let's Grow Leaders Performance Management training, click here.

Are you wasting time trying to address the wrong performance problem?

When someone on your team misses deadlines, makes mistakes, or stops following through, it’s easy to assume they don’t care or to jump straight into feedback, training, or closer oversight. But if you treat the wrong cause, you waste time, add to everyone’s overwhelm, and leave the real issue unresolved. In this episode, you’ll learn a practical, human-centered leadership framework for diagnosing poor performance accurately, strengthening your communication skills, and helping your team regain sustainable productivity without avoiding accountability.

After listening, you’ll be equipped to:

• Use four diagnostic questions centered on connection, clarity, curiosity, and commitment to uncover what is really affecting an employee’s performance.

• Match your response to the actual problem, whether the person needs clearer expectations, stronger skills or confidence, better priorities and resources, a repaired process, or direct accountability.

• Lead fairer, more effective performance conversations that build trust, support problem solving, and get people back on track faster.

Play the episode now to learn the four-question performance loop that can save you from solving the wrong problem and help your team deliver stronger, more sustainable results.

Be sure to pay attention to:

03:38 – Separate what you observe from what you assume.

Turn vague judgments such as “bad attitude” into specific, observable behaviors you can address fairly. You’ll make feedback clearer and open the door to a productive conversation.

06:59 – Make expectations unmistakably clear.