When something breaks, most leaders push harder (and make it worse)

Research from McKinsey & Company shows that sustainable performance improvement comes from diagnosing root causes—not applying more pressure.

I recently had to stop sending emails entirely.

Not by choice—by necessity.

Something wasn’t working.

Messages were landing in spam folders.

Engagement dropped.

Results followed.

At first glance, the solution seemed obvious:

Send more.

Push harder.

Increase volume.

But that would have made things worse.

So instead, I paused.

I stepped back to understand the system—not just the symptoms.

What caused this?

What signals did I miss?

What needed to be corrected before moving forward?

Then came the slower part: Rebuilding. Testing. Adjusting.

Gradually restoring trust with the system.

Not exciting.

But necessary.

And it worked.

The issue wasn’t effort.

It was approach.

The same pattern shows up inside teams.

When performance drops, leaders often increase pressure.

More oversight. More urgency. More control.

But when something isn’t working, pressure rarely fixes it.

It usually hides the real problem.

Coaching-based leadership takes a different path.

Instead of reacting quickly, leaders learn to diagnose effectively.

They ask better questions.

They explore root causes with their teams.

They involve people in rebuilding what isn’t working.

And the result: Stronger systems. More ownership.

Sustainable performance—not temporary fixes.

Because when people are part of the solution, they don’t just execute better—they think better.

If something in your team isn’t working right now, the answer may not be to push harder…but to pause long enough to understand what actually needs to change.

Here's to the value of a good pause.

Warm regards,

Marcel Sanchez
ICF Professional Coach
ICF-Accredited Coach Education Provider
Founder, Imagine Coaching Academy
Direct: +1-786-554-0312

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