Discipline, Mindset, Skill

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A former boss and current mentor and friend taught me the only coaching framework you’ll ever need to know in order to correctly diagnose underperformance in the team members you lead:

• Discipline

• Mindset

• Skill

The hardest part of being a coach trying to help a team member improve (or trying to improve performance in yourself) is determining where to start. The first question to ask is where that underperformance originates. Is it a problem of discipline, mindset, or skill?

Often the “skill vs. will” framework is used here, but I find that breaking “will” into the component parts of discipline and mindset allows you to be more precise in your coaching.

Discipline

If you’re in a situation where underperformance results due to a lack of discipline, you should celebrate. Of the three coaching components discipline is the easiest to fix (assuming the team member has the mindset to do so) because it is almost a binary question. You either are behaving in a disciplined way or you aren’t.

I’ve written about my love of discipline before, but it’s worth noting that issues with discipline generally result from two underlying factors, focus and consistency.

If you’re working with a team member who lacks discipline, try to understand whether they lack discipline because they aren’t being consistent enough or because they aren’t focused enough (sometimes it’s both).

Point this out to them, come up with an accountability cadence to keep them focused or consistent in their inputs and watch their performance improve.

Mindset

Mindset is by far the hardest trait to coach and improve. If a team member doesn’t believe they can be successful then they won’t be. Your best course of action in these instances is likely to find a way to move the individual off of your team either by finding a role better aligned with their skillset or by managing them out of the business.

I used to believe anyone could be coached and improve, but the longer I spend leading teams the more I realize that statement has an important caveat. Anyone can be coached and improve, if they believe they can.

When it comes to issues of mindset, you’re facing an "On the bus, off the bus" moment. The old advice about bringing horses to water applies well here.

It’s a disservice both to you and to the team members on your team who are still committed to the mission to spend time investing in those who constantly complain and focus only on the ways the deck is stacked against them rather than their own capacity to solve problems and improve.

Coaching conversations related to mindset should be one strike and your out discussions.

Demonstrate to your team member that you care deeply about them, but be direct and clear that it is up to them whether or not they want to fix their mindset in order to keep their spot on the team.

If they don’t and the behavior continues it’s best for both parties to move on.

Skill

This is where most managers believe, correctly, that they can add the most value as a coach but it’s important to move through the checklist and ensure your team member has the right discipline and mindset to improve before building a coaching plan around this element.

If skill is the name of the game then building a coaching plan using the Demonstrate, Practice, Apply, Refine (DPAR) framework is the best place to start. Deconstruct the skill into its component parts and meticulously leverage DPAR to make improvements in one component part at a time. The more you can deconstruct a skill into its smallest unit the more successful you’ll be.

Conclusion

The next time you have a team member that is underperforming leverage the Discipline, Mindset, Skill framework to determine where to apply your efforts and add value as a coach.

See y’all next week.