Recently read a leadership rant around something I adamantly oppose. It was around giving the gift of belonging. The writer was challenging leaders to give the gift of belonging before someone earned it. Sounds quite nice, you know.
It. Is. Not.
Humans are hard wired for becoming and belonging. We want to become the original we are and we want to find our clan, our club, our community where we belong. Truth. As leaders, create the fertile soil for both of these in your place of work. And, you cannot create a high performance team when you enable poor performers to take up residence when it’s not been earned. You cannot give everyone a sense of belonging, at least not for long. Performance standards don’t mean a thing if there is not an extruding process. You cannot give the gift of belonging to everyone. This is why corporations are not meant to be families.
Your family and loved ones belong unconditionally, in my worldview; your team, not so much. Building a performance culture creates tension on every team. Some people will simply not belong. Some will belong on top of the pyramid, some in the middle, some at the bottom. And, some, not at all. You will make mistakes recruiting. No leader is perfect. Improve the odds.
Hire slow. Fire fast.
Nothing damages high performance cultures more than giving away the sense of belonging just because you hired ’em. Belonging is earned. It’s your job, leader, to extrude. It’s your job to run a meritocracy. It’s your job to give feedback regarding the standards and hold all teammates accountable. Help your team earn the sense of belonging. You’re not running a day care system. You’re not a family. You’re a high performance team. ACT accordingly.
Live hard. Love ❤️ harder…
And, leader, always create a culture where it feels like you work with the best of friends. Sometimes you experience the joy of hiring ‘em. Sometimes you endure the pain of letting ‘em go. Sucks to lead. Lead anyway. FIO. Damn…
BUILT TO LEAD 