Last year at the EY Strategic Growth Forum® in Palm Springs, broadcaster and Super Bowl championship coach Jimmy Johnson told his story of a second-year Dallas Cowboys linebacker who fell asleep during a game film. Off-put and distracted, Johnson woke him up and fired him.
Concerned about the precedent this set, an assistant coach asked Johnson what he would have done had it been Hall of Fame running back Emmitt Smith who dozed off. He replied, “Simple. I would have said, ‘Emmitt, wake up!’”
We’ve become so careful about rewarding performance that in some schools, everyone gets a ribbon — and no one gets a grade. Increased awareness and respect for how individual skills and abilities vary is important, but greater equality and personal development happen when we learn to treat everyone differently.
In the case of Johnson’s two Cowboys, it was actually the linebacker who in college was predicted to become a standout, but he never quite lived up to his potential. Both had equal opportunity, but it’s what Smith did with his that catapulted his career.
Nix the mediocrity
The assistant coach told Johnson he was sending a mixed message by letting the linebacker go so abruptly. To Johnson, the message was clear: Don’t breed mediocrity.
A well-balanced workplace is comprised of employees whose talents and ambitions are as diverse as their personalities. Regardless of position, everyone needs nurture and encouragement to grow, achieve success and feel like a valuable contributor.
Where human resource management programs sometimes fall short is on how to justly recognize merit and handle underperformance. With heightened consciousness for employee discrimination, some companies are trending more conservatively in applauding good behavior and penalizing unacceptable conduct.
Attitude, not aptitude
Providing your workforce access to development tools is a smart strategy, but rewarding unequal success equally is not. And ultimately, the truest measure of victory on or off the field is attitude, not aptitude. Business and sports teams with the best records have more players who are not only great at what they do, but great to be around, too.
In the same way that academic institutions develop individual education plans for students, it’s OK to treat everyone at work uniquely:
- It acknowledges individual strengths and opportunities for growth.
- It recognizes that employees are driven by different work and life goals.
- It honors those whose contributions have made the most difference.
- It inspires people to do their best in any position.
- It rewards employee dedication, loyalty and longevity.
We tend to tread lightly around playing favorites, but most often, employees who receive greater compensation and benefits are the ones who have earned it. The best thing about an entrepreneurial business culture is that it doesn’t limit opportunity. Neither should it limit perks.
If you want to win in business, play and pay your first string accordingly, and look to the sidelines for emerging talent that won’t drop the ball.
