We’ve all worked with that manager who’s great at their job – until they’re not. They take care of their stakeholders, make smart decisions, and their team genuinely likes them. But ask them to follow up on action items? This may prove to be a bigger challenge than you ever imagined.

This creates a weird coaching dilemma. When someone’s performing well in 80% of their role, it’s tempting to overlook that troublesome 20%. The manager thinks their wins should balance out their misses, and honestly, leadership often agrees. After all, why rock the boat with someone who’s mostly delivering?

But here’s the thing: poor follow-through is like a slow leak in a tire. It doesn’t look like much at first, but eventually it’ll leave you stranded. Projects get stuck waiting for that one email response. Team members start working around the manager because they can’t count on commitments. Stakeholders lose trust and begin cutting them out of important conversations entirely. Deadlines are missed and the consequences can be critical.

When you’re coaching this situation, you can’t ignore the elephant in the room, but you also can’t bulldoze someone who’s doing many things right. The trick is helping them see that their lack of follow-up isn’t just a quirky personality trait – they’re undermining all their good work.

As the saying goes, “The fortune is in the follow-up.” Skip the motivational speeches and focus on building systems instead. Help them set up regular review habits, use whatever apps or tools work for them, and maybe pair them with someone who can serve as their accountability buddy. You’re not trying to change who they are; just helping them build better processes so their good intentions actually turn into action.

The best coaching conversations I’ve had focus less on past screw-ups and more on what they’re missing out on. Because here’s the truth: when these managers finally get their follow-through game together, they don’t just fix a weakness—they become unstoppable.

“Every strike brings me closer to the next home run.”
— Babe Ruth

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