You're coaching someone who is consistently missing the mark. They're in a rut. You know this person has potential, but something is getting in the way of them achieving the results you know are possible.
Here's a question that I've found to be effective in helping people break loose...
So do you think what you're experiencing is a lack of skill or a lack of focus?"
There have been times in my own career when I knew I needed to dig back in as a student of the business and commit to learning more in order to get to the next level of results. There have been other times when I knew I just needed to commit more to my planning and sticking to my action plan...
It's a pretty jarring question, but it's effective. Are you being limited by skill or by focus?
There is no judgement attached to the question when I ask it. Even the masters were limited by their skill at some point in their career and I've never met anyone who maintained unwavering focus over a period of years. There is a great answer for either scenario. If it's a matter of skill, then there is no shortage of resources available to improve your skillset. There are books, audios, videos, the ability to cross-train and shadow top performers, role playing and practicing, attending meetings or conferences, etc.
If you tell me, "No no no Wes, it's not a skillset thing... I've achieved good results in the past, I know it's not an ability issue, I just need to focus more on it and plan better." If that's the case, my coaching is a usually a two-word response...
"Prove it."
If you're saying it's not a skillset issue and that you know you can get the results when you're truly focused and motivated, then I say go ahead and prove it to yourself by truly focusing on it for the next week or two. Show me and more importantly, show yourself, what you're really capable of when you're laser focused. If we end up at the same spot, then we can gameplan some more skill-building strategies to help give you a boost. As a top performer in the making, there is no shame in finding yourself in a slump, but the
all-time greats recognize it about themselves quickly and know how to bust out of it.
Often times having this conversation when someone is in a rut will help them to snap out of it because it gets them focused on the two things that help someone to level up: Learning + Action.