When faced with coaching underperforming teams, most managers immediately focus on individual skill gaps, process improvements, or performance management procedures. However, this conventional approach often overlooks the fundamental truth about team performance: underperforming teams typically reflect leadership challenges rather than individual deficiencies.
This perspective emerged from a conversation with a colleague renowned for transforming underperforming teams into highly motivated, successful units. Her consistent success wasn’t due to revolutionary training programmes or complex performance systems — it stemmed from understanding that coaching underperforming teams requires leaders to first examine their own role in creating the conditions for success or failure.
Rather than implementing traditional performance improvement plans immediately, this leadership-first approach to coaching underperforming teams addresses root causes and creates sustainable transformation that benefits both individual team members and organisational performance.
Understanding the Reality of Underperforming Teams
Most organisations contain teams that fall into the “adequate but unremarkable” category — groups where performance isn’t poor enough to trigger formal intervention, yet isn’t excellent enough to drive significant results. These teams often consist of what might be termed “B players” — competent individuals who deliver acceptable work without achieving their full potential.
The mediocrity trap affects teams when members:
- Deliver work that meets minimum standards without excellence
- Avoid taking initiative or proposing improvements
- Focus on task completion rather than outcome achievement
- Demonstrate limited engagement with team goals
- Show little enthusiasm for professional development
Research from Harvard Business Review indicates that coaching approaches can significantly improve struggling employee performance when applied thoughtfully and systematically¹. However, traditional coaching methods often fail because they address symptoms rather than underlying systemic issues that create underperformance.
The Leadership Mirror: Why Teams Underperform
The Leicester City Football Club example provides a powerful illustration of what’s possible when leadership transforms team culture. In 2016, Leicester City won the English Premier League despite having no superstar players — an achievement that defied all expectations and odds. Their success wasn’t due to individual brilliance but rather exceptional leadership that created conditions for collective excellence.
The Leicester City model demonstrates that underperforming teams typically reflect leadership gaps in:
- Vision clarity and inspiration that connects daily work to meaningful outcomes
- Culture creation that supports excellence rather than accepting mediocrity
- Individual development that builds on strengths rather than merely addressing weaknesses
- Accountability systems that encourage ownership and responsibility
- Communication practices that build trust and psychological safety
When coaching underperforming teams, leaders must first acknowledge their role in creating current performance levels. This isn’t about blame — it’s about recognising that team performance mirrors leadership effectiveness and creating opportunities for transformation.
Three Leadership-First Strategies for Coaching Underperforming Teams
1. Build an Inspiring Vision Connected to Meaningful Purpose
Traditional performance improvement focuses on what teams are doing wrong. Effective coaching underperforming teams begins with clarifying why the work matters and creating shared vision that inspires excellence rather than merely demanding compliance.
The power of purpose in team transformation: Teams that understand the meaningful impact of their work demonstrate significantly higher levels of engagement, creativity, and performance consistency. Purpose provides the emotional connection that transforms routine tasks into meaningful contributions.
Practical vision-building strategies: Start with fundamental questions:
- “Why do we exist as a team?”
- “What impact does our work have on others?”
- “How does our success contribute to something larger than ourselves?”
- “What would be possible if we performed at our highest level?”
Create compelling purpose statements: Transform functional descriptions into inspiring purposes. For example, stroke rehabilitation nurses initially described their work as “helping patients return home to continue recovery.” Through facilitated discussion, they discovered their true purpose: “We give people a second chance at life.”
Connect daily tasks to larger impact: Help team members understand how routine responsibilities contribute to meaningful outcomes. In pharmaceutical teams, regulatory compliance isn’t just following procedures — it’s ensuring patient safety and enabling life-saving treatments to reach those who need them.
Involve the team in vision creation: Rather than imposing vision from above, facilitate collaborative sessions where team members contribute to defining shared purpose and goals. This involvement creates ownership and commitment that external mandates cannot achieve.
Implementation approach: Schedule facilitated team sessions focused on purpose discovery rather than problem-solving. Use open-ended questions to help team members articulate the meaningful aspects of their work and connect individual roles to collective impact.
2. Establish Team Values and Cultivate High-Performance Culture
Coaching underperforming teams requires intentional culture creation that supports excellence rather than accepting mediocrity. Culture emerges from shared values, expectations, and behaviours that become “how we do things here.”
The relationship between values and performance: Teams with clearly defined, actively practiced values demonstrate more consistent performance, better collaboration, and stronger resilience during challenging periods. Values provide decision-making frameworks that guide behaviour when formal supervision isn’t present.
Identify core operating principles: Work with the team to identify 3-4 values that will underpin daily operations. These might include:
- Excellence: Commitment to delivering quality work that exceeds expectations
- Collaboration: Supporting team members and sharing knowledge freely
- Innovation: Seeking creative solutions and continuous improvement
- Integrity: Maintaining honesty and accountability in all interactions
Translate values into behaviours: Abstract values become meaningful only when translated into specific, observable behaviours. For each value, define what it looks like in practice:
- What does “excellence” mean in our daily work?
- How do we demonstrate “collaboration” during challenging projects?
- What behaviours indicate someone is living our team values?
Create culture-building experiences: Intentional team bonding experiences break down barriers, build relationships, and establish trust. These don’t require elaborate events — regular team lunches, brief social check-ins, or collaborative problem-solving sessions can significantly strengthen team cohesion.
Recognise and reinforce desired culture: When team members demonstrate desired behaviours, acknowledge them explicitly and connect the recognition to team values. This reinforcement helps establish cultural norms and encourages others to adopt similar approaches.
Address culture-damaging behaviours: When behaviours contradict established values, address them quickly and directly. Allowing value-inconsistent behaviour to continue undermines the entire culture-building effort.
3. Build Accountability and Personal Responsibility
The distinction between accountability and blame is crucial when coaching underperforming teams. Accountability empowers team members to take ownership of outcomes and contribute to solutions, whilst blame creates defensiveness and reduces engagement.
Building accountability-based culture: True leadership accountability creates conditions where team members naturally take responsibility for their work, their development, and their contribution to team success. This approach transforms passive task-completers into active contributors.
Model leadership accountability: Demonstrate personal accountability by acknowledging mistakes, taking responsibility for team outcomes, and focusing on solutions rather than blame. When leaders model accountability, team members follow naturally.
Create shared ownership structures: Involve team members in goal-setting, problem-solving, and improvement planning. When people participate in creating solutions, they feel more committed to implementing them successfully.
Establish clear roles and expectations: Accountability requires clarity about what’s expected from each team member. Work with individuals to define their roles, responsibilities, and success metrics in ways that connect to team objectives.
Implement regular accountability check-ins: Schedule frequent, brief conversations focused on progress, obstacles, and support needs rather than monitoring or evaluation. These discussions build accountability through relationship and support rather than surveillance.
Focus on systems and processes: When performance issues arise, examine systems and processes before focusing on individual deficiencies. Often, underperformance results from unclear processes, inadequate resources, or systemic barriers rather than individual capability gaps.
Celebrate accountability behaviours: When team members demonstrate ownership, initiative, or problem-solving, acknowledge these behaviours explicitly. Recognition reinforces accountability culture and encourages others to take similar ownership.
Measuring Success in Coaching Underperforming Teams
Leading indicators of improvement:
- Increased participation in team discussions and decision-making
- Proactive communication about challenges and potential solutions
- Collaborative behaviour and peer support
- Initiative-taking and creative problem-solving
- Improved quality and consistency of work output
Lagging indicators of transformation:
- Reduced error rates and quality issues
- Increased customer satisfaction or internal client feedback
- Improved project delivery timelines and outcomes
- Enhanced team member retention and satisfaction
- Greater organisational confidence in team capabilities
Continuous monitoring approach: Use both formal and informal feedback mechanisms to track progress. Regular team retrospectives, individual check-ins, and stakeholder feedback provide ongoing insights into coaching effectiveness and areas requiring adjustment.
Common Pitfalls in Coaching Underperforming Teams
Focusing on individual deficiencies rather than system issues: Many coaching efforts fail because they address individual skill gaps without examining systemic factors that contribute to underperformance. Always assess processes, resources, and organisational support before focusing on individual development.
Implementing solutions without team involvement: Top-down improvement initiatives often fail because they don’t address real challenges or build team ownership. Involve team members in identifying problems and developing solutions.
Expecting immediate transformation: Coaching underperforming teams requires patience and persistence. Cultural change and performance improvement typically take 3-6 months to show significant results and 12-18 months for sustainable transformation.
Neglecting to address leadership development: Team coaching efforts fail when leaders don’t simultaneously develop their own capabilities. Personal leadership growth must parallel team development initiatives.
The Role of Skills and Knowledge Development
Whilst this leadership-first approach emphasises culture and engagement, technical skills and knowledge development remain important components of coaching underperforming teams. However, these elements should be addressed within the context of purpose, values, and accountability rather than in isolation.
Practical guidance from MindTools provides structured frameworks for identifying the root causes of underperformance and guiding employees toward improvement through clear support and systematic approaches². This systematic approach works best when combined with the cultural transformation strategies outlined above.
Integrated development approach:
- Connect skill development to meaningful work purposes
- Frame learning opportunities as growth rather than deficiency correction
- Encourage peer learning and knowledge sharing
- Celebrate skill development achievements within team value frameworks
- Link capability building to increased accountability and ownership
Frequently Asked Questions About Coaching Underperforming Teams
Transform Team Performance Through Leadership Excellence
Coaching underperforming teams requires courage to examine leadership effectiveness and commitment to creating conditions for collective success. Leaders who embrace this approach consistently transform adequate teams into exceptional performers whilst building their own leadership capabilities and organisational reputation.
The transformation begins with leadership commitment. Choose to view underperforming teams as leadership development opportunities rather than management problems. Invest in building vision, culture, and accountability systems that enable team members to achieve their potential whilst contributing to meaningful outcomes.
Remember that coaching underperforming teams is ultimately about unlocking human potential. When people understand why their work matters, feel supported by strong culture, and take ownership of outcomes, they naturally strive for excellence rather than settling for adequacy.
Your commitment to leadership-first coaching will create lasting positive impact on team performance, individual careers, and organisational success. Start with the leadership mirror — the transformation begins with you.