How the Need for Fairness Destroys People
The need for fairness prevents
people in the middle from reaching the top.
Every organization of any size has slackers, drifters, and fence sitters. Top management should deal with them, but sometimes they don’t.
It’s not fair that you give 100% while they give 75%, or less. The need for fairness whispers in your ear,
“Why should you work harder than others?”
Don’t listen! Doing less is the path to mediocrity and self-defeat. The path to personal growth is taking on new responsibilities and challenges not shirking the ones you have.
Organizations that don’t reward hard
work, reward game-players and office politicians.
Continue working hard and seek new employment, transfer to another department, wait for the boss to die, but don’t become a drifter, whatever you do.
Politics vs. work:
Every successful leader understands and plays office politics, sometimes. I’m not talking about backstabbing and gossip. I’m talking about understanding the real organizational versus the official organizational chart, for example. On the other hand, hard work always applies.
Hard work:
Be the hardest worker in your office. Don’t destroy your health, neglect other responsibilities, or stay late every night. But, always bring it.
Reject the voice that says, “It’s not fair that you’re working harder than others.” Momma says, “Life isn’t fair.” She’s right. Overcome the self-defeating need for fairness.
How can people in the middle overcome the temptation to pull back because they’re working harder than others?
Exactly! Work hard and bring your A game… stop looking around. It will pay off.
Thanks Karin…here’s to a day of hard work. 🙂
Love this!
Thanks!
I agree, work hard and you will be able to sleep at night and look yourself in the mirror. The people that matter will notice.
And if they don’t notice, go where they do. 🙂
“Be the hardest worker in your office. Don’t destroy your health, neglect other responsibilities, or stay late every night. But, always bring it.” Solid advice to someone new to the company / business / life. Excellent writing, Dan!
Hey Featherman… great seeing you here this morning. Thanks for the good word and keep up the good work.
Great post, Dan.
How can people in the middle overcome the temptation to pull back because they’re working harder than others?
Remind yourself that you have character..and lots of it! You are strong on your values, and have an outstanding work ethic. If you truly feel the need to “pull back” or “take a breather”…try doing so by inspiring others to bring theirs – that’ll get you going again.
Powerful Ryan. Thank you.
Thanks also for all the support in social media you give these post. Much appreciated.
If I’m worried about fairness, than my whole day, week, career is about keeping score not doing my best work. How can I concentrate on doing what’s best for kids if I’m constantly keeping tabs on my coworkers? This would destroy me.
There is a balance of not being naive to what is going on around me, yet not being prideful by a constant acknowledgement of how much more/less I’m doing, and not allowing my performanced based identity to take control neglecting all other responsibilities.
Interesting post. It has me thinking.
Thanks,
A Middle School English Teacher
(Now how to have my students analyze this statement.) 🙂
Very wise words! I say this can be used in daily life as well. It’s so easy to get mad about the lack of “fairness”..
Thanks for a great post and good insight, Dan.
If those stuck in the middle are focused on ending somewhere in the top, they have to be true to themselves, their character, integrity and show solid work ethics. The leader does what is expected and more and a good leader will be noticed!
Don’t give in to mediocrity or lower you standards to those fence-sitters or ‘lazy’ colleagues. You must have a dream and desire to achieve and you will.
Blessings
Rodney
My grandfather was a entrepreneur and his example taught me a that success is not a destination, but a state of mind and a place of being. I would say job satisfaction is the same to some degree. And thanks to Grandpa Jack, I came to believe that no matter what happens in life, hard work and a good heart can get you almost anywhere. As a result, no matter what life has thrown me, I have been able to meet it with confidence.
I work more for me than I do for someone else. The job is just a vehicle to my own personal journey. It’s true that after awhile you can get fed up with the environment where you work and the situation is no longer acceptable or healthy. And as you mentioned Dan, you move on and find a new job. But call it ego, call it pride, I never want to leave a position any way except on my own terms and with pride in what I’ve done there.
Also, I think there’s something to be said for striving to make a good choice in where you are hired and for what kind of work in the first place, which can’t help but lend to a longer satisfaction life while you’re there. I’m willing to put up with more bs when I’m more passionate about what I do and am less focused on the pay. Nothing is permanent. It’s not as common today to work for the same company or position all our lives any more. So it’s completely reasonable to think in terms of “this too shall pass” if it seems that something is irreconcilable, but there’s no where to go yet. Keep up the high level of performance, but work on the plan to allow you to move with dignity. I may not have much, but my reputation and good name is everything. Pay’s important, but so’s longevity, in life or in work. It’s one thing to deal with sprints, but if you’re really working a marathon type job, you need different coping tactics. We all have limits. So no matter how tasty that offer might look, evaluation up front of the environment might head off a lot of heart ache and burn.
Great post! As you mentioned, it’s important to reward the hard workers. When leaders fail to reward and recognize the motivated but not quite superstar workers, those middle-of-the-road workers are likely to stop working as hard. It’s all about knowing what motivates your people: social recognition, time off, “trophies” etc.
Dan, This are excellent words, well-written. Next, I’d like to see you write on the same theme from the other side of the equation (and forgive me if you have and I’ve not remembered). How does a leader treat her/his staff “unfairly” in ways that promote this kind of behavior in them and does’t fall into the trap of favoritism or inadvertantly (intentionally?) reward the very kind of office politics you decry. I can more easily govern my individual work behavior than I can my leader behavior with others. Advice?
Are you suggesting that management should accept the 75% performer just because that’s how it is? To be the best, shouldn’t we filter those who don’t perform and bring people on board who will perform? I understand the fairness aspect and I believe we can create a team full of 100%ers.
I don’t think this is what Dan meant. From a personal standpoint, we shouldn’t ever slack.
However, I’m with you on the management standpoint. As a manager, I need to ensure that fairness and equity are being attended to. Because I’m a manager, I’m on constant display. When I take positive action to reinforce correct behaviours and practices, then everyone knows what the standard is, and everyone knows I believe in that standard, not just the “slacker”.
Dear Dan,
A truly beautiful post about fairness that is needed in almost all the organizations today.It is also true that the people who seek fairness do not reach at the top. There are other category of people who reach at the top. People can overcome the temptation to pull back by analyzing their role. They should be fair to their role and responsibilities and should not worry what others say. Other way could be just doing what is needed without much expectation. In the system, there is always a struggle between favors and fairness. And top management should always prefer fairness. Favor prevails when top management want. And this leads to all kind of unfair, unethical and politics all around.
My good experience with organizations about politics reveals that there are three things that lead to politics and unfairness- Incompetency, greed and selfishness. Top management incompetency generally leads to unfairness. when greed for self promotion and power comes, unfairness emerge. When people generally on the top want to hold their chair for longer period, unfairness, favor and politics emerge. The reason is simple- They set example for others to follow.
When I have this conversation with my kids (and it comes up often), I have tried to describe the difference between “fair” and “equal”. As they are getting older, they understand it better, but I know many adults who don’t understand the difference either!
If your work doesn’t reflect who you are and enrich who you are it doesn’t matter how hard you work, you aren’t growing. Equality is determined in comparison to others. But fairness compares who a person is to who they can be. What’s most unfair is when a person does not become more as a result of what they do.
From an earlier LF blog, you might consider who are you choosing to surround yourself with. If you respect someone higher up in the organization, reach out, even if it is just a periodic coffee or lunch. When you do reach out, have a focus and be transparent. If you are seeking mentorship or coaching to build your own abilities or are wanting to learn more about the organizational focus and vision, be direct. Then build a perspective that connects what you do with the long view and present that, coupled with challenges, successes, and opportunities.
Or “wait for the boss to die”-that’s Dan in touch with his kinder, gentler side, too funny. 😉
So, if you are aware you are ‘stuck’ in the middle, is that where you want to be tomorrow or next week, month, year? That is a choice that you make. Being Eeyore is a choice, so’s being Tigger.
I had a boss that used to always say “FAIR is where you take your pig”.
I can relate to this. Great post. This made me laugh:
“Continue working hard and seek new employment, transfer to another department, wait for the boss to die, but don’t become a drifter, whatever you do.”
Aw, this was an incredibly good post. Taking a few minutes and actual effort to make a good article… but what can I say… I put things off a whole lot and never manage to get anything done.