How to Use Performance Reviews to Reset After a Bad Year

Everyone has a tough year — a project that flopped, a personal crisis, or just a stretch of mediocre results. In this episode of The Performance Review Show, Lucas and Luna look at a real case: a senior product manager at a mid-size SaaS company who hit a wall after two great years. Her manager's feedback was blunt — 'your execution velocity dropped' — and the rating landed at 'meets some expectations.' Lucas walks through a four-step reset playbook: decoupling identity from outcome, writing a narrative of the year that explains without excusing, using the review to reset expectations for the next cycle, and negotiating an informal check-in cadence with the manager to rebuild momentum. Luna pushes back on the advice with a counter-case from a friend who tried the same strategy and hit a wall of management inertia. They land on a practical distinction: when to invest in the current job versus when to take the feedback as a signal to move on. No fluff, no 'just stay positive' — a tactical conversation about what to actually do when the review confirms you've had a rough twelve months. #PerformanceReview #BadYear #CareerReset #Feedback #CareerRecovery #ProductManager #SaaS #CareerNarrative #ExecutionVelocity #ManagerRelationship #CheckIns #CareerMomentum #ResetPlaybook #SelfAdvocacy #Careers #Business #FexingoBusiness #BusinessPodcast Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo