Performance Reviews Should Be Highlight Reels… NOT Movie Premieres.
To People Leaders & Direct Reports:
If you're waiting for a once- or twice-a-year meeting to say the thing, share feedback (good or bad), ask for coaching, or advocate for the promotion, you’re missing countless opportunities to build trust and lead with intention.
To People Leaders:
If you’re holding onto critical feedback or insight until your team member’s performance review, you’re not helping your people grow… You’re holding them back.
Performance reviews should be a continuation and confirmation of the conversations you’re already having, not the debut of new material.
If you're hearing first-time feedback in a review, it's likely not a performance issue. It's a trust issue.
Your Leadership Operating System Is Always Running
Think of your Leadership Operating System (Leadership OS) as the invisible software that drives how you show up and lead every day. It's constantly running, sending signals to your team about what you value, who you prioritize, and whether your "open door" is actually open.
Your Leadership OS shows up in the seemingly small moments:
Your Team’s 1:1s… Are you fully present vs. multitasking and allowing repeat interruptions?
The Tone (and timing) of Slack messages… Are you encouraging your team not to work too much, yet sending emails and Slack/Teams messages during off hours?
Email Response Times… Are your stakeholders receiving a faster response time than your team?
If a direct report drops game-changing insights, information, or ideas in their performance review, it’s time to get curious. Why now? Why not sooner? And what might you be signaling (even unintentionally) that made them wait?
Leadership isn’t a scheduled event. It’s a daily practice.
You can’t build culture and trust with Core Values posters and Town Halls. You build it through everyday intentional actions. In 1:1s that go beyond a status update. By following up and through on your promises. And communicating early and often, rather than course correcting six months too late.
If you’re feeling friction in your culture, it’s not just noise. It’s feedback. And it usually traces back to your Leadership OS and the signals you’re sending, often without realizing it.
The Upgrade Opportunity
The good news? You can upgrade your Leadership OS in real time, and your culture will shift with it.
Whether you're a leader or an individual contributor, you can start practicing by using everyday interactions to build trust, drive clarity, and lead out loud.
Curious about your Leadership OS?
This is the work I do. I partner with executives and senior leaders to decode the signals they're sensing and spot the patterns they're too close to recognize. Together, we make small but powerful shifts that turn frustration into flow and friction into meaningful alignment through real-time advisory, not rearview feedback.
When you're ready, let's talk.
