Performance Reviews - Part 1: Blind Spots That Undermine Your Best Decisions

Aug 19

3 min read

A Coaching Series for Conscious Leaders

Performance Reviews Can Make or Break Culture. Let's get it right.

Performance reviews aren’t just about pay or promotions. They quietly set the tone for everything that follows: who gets seen, who gets stretched, who feels valued, and who disengages. Done poorly, they can sow resentment, inequity, and fear. Done consciously, they can reinforce trust, transparency, and a culture of growth.

In Part 1 of this 3-part coaching series, we'll explore what most leaders miss: the unconscious bias that can quietly derail your decisions, your culture, and your best people.

Blind Spots Cost You: Why Unchecked Bias Undermines Performance Decisions

What if the most capable person on your team is being overlooked—not because of their performance, but because of your perception?

Every leader wants to believe they’re being objective during performance review season. But even the most well-intentioned managers carry blind spots. When bias creeps into evaluation conversations—silently, invisibly—it doesn’t just hurt individuals. It hurts the business.

Performance ratings affect more than pay and promotions. They shape morale, trust, retention, and long-term growth. If we misjudge talent today, we misdirect our investment for tomorrow.

Bias is a Business Risk, Not Just a Moral One

Bias shows up in subtle ways:

Giving more credit to extroverted or “visible” employees
Undervaluing relationship-based leadership
Assuming quiet equals disengaged
Rewarding comfort over innovation

Unchecked, these patterns reinforce sameness, undermine inclusion, and weaken decision-making.

The Most Dangerous Bias? The One You Don’t See.

Even high-performing leaders struggle with:

Similarity bias: favoring people like themselves
Recency bias: overemphasizing recent performance
Attribution bias: inconsistent interpretations of success/failure
Affinity bias: giving the benefit of the doubt to those they relate to

These biases don’t make you a bad leader. They make you human. Conscious leadership means noticing where your humanity could be clouding your judgment.

When Strong Teams Get Penalized: The Calibration Trap

What happens when a high-performing team’s members all land in the top 20%? In some organizations, calibration rules still force some to be rated lower—just to fulfill a distribution model.

This flawed system punishes success. Departments should be calibrated holistically, not penalized for excellence. If a team is thriving, that’s a sign of great leadership, not a quota problem.

Let’s Talk About the Awkwardness

Let’s name the discomfort. It is awkward to sit in a room and evaluate your colleagues. You might wonder:

“What if I’m being too harsh—or too soft?”
“How do I speak honestly without sounding biased?”

That’s why respectful, shared frameworks matter.

✅ Guidelines for Responsible, Respectful Calibration

Use evidence-based examples. → Be specific and behavioral, not vague or reputational.
Evaluate outcomes and behaviors. → How work gets done matters.
Avoid comparative language. 🔺 What to do instead: Frame assessments around the individual's growth and contributions. Say: “They’ve developed stronger cross-functional leadership this year,” not “They’re better than Alex.”
Check your motive before speaking. 🔺 What to do instead: Ask, "Is this grounded in growth, fairness, or frustration?" Speak from stewardship, not stress.
Assume good intent; pursue shared truth. → You are one perspective in a bigger picture.

Prepare for Next Year, Not Just This One

Calibration gets messy when standards aren't set upfront. Use this season not just to rate people, but to evaluate the system:

Were expectations clear and inclusive?
Did feedback happen in real time?
Are we measuring what matters most?

(We’ll explore this more deeply in Part 2.)

✨ Coaching for Conscious Calibration

If you want to approach performance season with more clarity, fairness, and purpose—let’s talk. Coaching can help you lead these conversations with courage and care.