Leadership Development · Week 5
Use these scenarios for team coaching sessions, 1:1 debriefs, or certification preparation
Scenario 1
Situation
It is annual review season. For one of your employees, Priya, the only thing top of mind is a project that went sideways two weeks ago — even though she delivered strongly all year. You find yourself drafting a review that overweights the recent stumble.
Your Task
Write a fair, evidence-based performance review free of recency bias.
Step-by-Step Guidance
Recognize the trap: recency bias overweights the last few weeks and ignores the full review period.
Pull documentation from across the entire year — notes, 1:1 records, project outcomes.
Evaluate against the goals set at the start of the period, not against your current mood.
Give the recent stumble proportional weight — one project in twelve months.
Balance the review: specific strengths, specific growth areas, and forward-looking development.
Make ratings defensible — every score should be backed by concrete examples.
Facilitator Debrief
Fair reviews require year-round documentation. Memory is biased toward what is recent and what is emotional. Managers who keep ongoing notes write fairer, more credible, and more legally defensible reviews.
Key Principle
Review the year, not the week: document continuously so the review writes itself fairly.
Scenario 2
Situation
Sam is your top performer — but lately seems bored, less engaged, and you have heard a rumor they are quietly interviewing elsewhere. Their work is still good, but the spark is gone.
Your Task
Re-engage a high performer through a growth conversation.
Step-by-Step Guidance
Act proactively — do not wait for a resignation letter to start the conversation.
Open with genuine interest: "You are doing great work. I want to talk about where YOU want to go next."
Ask what energizes them and what they want to learn or stretch into.
Identify growth that is not just a promotion: stretch projects, cross-functional visibility, mentoring others, new skills.
Make specific, time-bound commitments — vague encouragement will not retain them.
Schedule a follow-up to show this is a real plan, not a one-off chat.
Facilitator Debrief
High performers rarely leave for money first — they leave because they stopped growing. The manager's job is to notice stagnation early and create a development path before the disengagement becomes a departure.
Key Principle
High performers leave managers, not companies: invest in their growth before someone else offers to.