Leaders and The Equity Problem

02 Jun Leaders and The Equity Problem

My professional life started inauspiciously.

 

Without any sense of direction as regards a career I went to work in a government job right after college – knowing full well I was biding my time until I figured things out as regards my future.

 

That position taught me two things:

• First, life wasn’t going to wait for me – the world has a tendency to quickly step over those of us without purpose or direction.
• Second, I was in a place where, no matter how hard I worked, I would be grouped with everyone else at a similar pay grade. Even top performance would have no impact on my merit raises – or my promotability.

 

Inspiration, ambition…. and maybe a little bit of desperation ultimately led me in different direction.

 

In my case, the private sector.

 

Thankfully.

 

I sometimes reference that early experience in my seminars – if for no other reason than to point out that the leap that followed was massive.

 

Grand Canyon type massive.

 

From a simple staff role where I “checked a box” and got a paycheck – to a demanding sales role where if I didn’t hit my quota I didn’t get to stay.

 

Now this is not a criticism of government jobs. I’m sure there are a great many that are performance oriented and quite intense.

 

Mine wasn’t.

 

But the new world I stepped into was – boy, was it ever.

 

Quotas. Sales rankings. Quarterly goals.

 

Non-producers were quickly weeded out.

 

No one seemed to care if I didn’t come from a business background – or if I had never sold anything in my life.

 

And they certainly didn’t care that in my previous job it was OK to just “show up.”

 

In my first year I learned things that contrasted greatly with the insights I had garnered from job one.  Namely:

 

• If I was willing to work hard and commit myself I could possibly forge a place.
• Not everyone would be willing to pay that price – and the outcomes they produced either ensured their future – or compromised it.

 

Today I work with leaders across a fairly broad spectrum of industry – and surprisingly, some of the things I learned in that first post-college experience continue to inform.

 

Which is why I am quick to point out that true leaders understand that not all people will produce the same results – there will be exceptional performers – there will be average performers – and there will be mediocre contributors.

 

But leaders simultaneously accept the notion that their mission is to do everything in their power to offer an equal opportunity for their people to succeed.

 

Equality of opportunity means:

• Selecting individuals that are qualified for the role
• Setting standards that are both high – and clear
• Training all parties on the job requirements
• Coaching them – feedback, affirmation, and yes – outlining deficiencies
• Ensuring accountability for all

 

Our Select-Set-Train-Coach-Ensure Model (SSTCE) is remarkably simple – and all too often ignored by otherwise well meaning managers/supervisors/directors/etc.

 

Again, its mission is to advance the notion of equal opportunity for all – or at least as best we can.

 

But here’s what leaders cannot do – they cannot assume that, even with the above steps firmly in place, employees will in fact deliver equal outcomes – equity.

 

I’ve invested decades in industry – managed thousands – and never have I seen a situation unfold where we enjoyed an equal distribution of performance across all our employees.

 

Never.

 

I repeat…. never.

 

Assemble 1,000 sales professionals – task them with business goals – and watch that differentiation begin to unfold.

 

Do the same thing in your Finance department.

 

Or your Market Research group.

 

Or even across your Board of Directors.

 

The level of performance will differ – so will the outcomes they produce.

 

True leaders know this – and their call to action is to make absolutely certain that they honor Step #5 above.

 

Ensure accountability.

 

That means letting top performers know they are indeed the “best of the best.”

 

And letting their mediocre counterparts know they are something less.

 

The only leaders I have ever worked with that pushed everyone to the middle were themselves mediocre – and if those managers reported to me, my challenge was to honor my own words in those cases.

 

Make certain that “would be” leader had, in fact, received the training and the coaching – and then hold them accountable to actually lead.

 

In every case here’s what happened.

 

The top performers that reported to that person – those that before had been grouped with the average because their manager would not differentiate talent – were elated.

 

The poor performers – who had effectively hidden because of an A.W.O.L. manager – were alarmed.

 

The average performers – lost somewhere in limbo – began to appreciate that a culture of exceptionalism was motivating.

 

True leaders embrace their responsibility to level, as best they can, equality of opportunity.

 

But they’re smart enough to realize that outcomes can and will differ.

 

Perhaps in some utopian world that isn’t the case.

 

I haven’t been there yet.

 

I challenge clients and friends to deal with reality.

 

That’s tough enough.