Who would you hold accountable for performance issue with a senior leader?

A senior leader is lagging behind on making phone/Zoom calls to vendors and customers.  He’s gotten negative feedback from his boss.  When asked, he reports that the open office design makes him feel exposed, without the privacy that he needs to engage in important conversations.

Who should be held accountable?  The senior leader?  Someone else?

The office space is a system-level issue; the company isn’t providing the leader with the space/equipment he needs to get his job done.  It’s not the employee’s fault. 

When you’re evaluating an employee’s performance, it’s important to diagnose the source of the problem: 

 #1 Is it the employee’s shortcoming?

#2  Is it a question of Skills and ability, or Motivation? 

#3  What’s going on in the system that might be impacting the employee’s ability to perform well?

We need to be mindful about our assumptions about employee or leader performance and we need to take the time to investigate the root cause. What assumptions might you be making about your employee’s performance?

Let me know if you find this post helpful.