Episode #485: Ensuring Fairness As The Leader

Being fair to everyone in the team is one of the most basic elements of leadership. It builds leader trust, predictability and reliability. But are we actually always being fair? Sometimes our own team members try to draw us off the fairness straight and narrow path. There are those who want to play politics. No matter how large or small the organisation politics will raise its ugly head at some point. Obviously the bigger the company the more opportunity for political infighting. In my observation, those not kept sufficiently busy have the band width to politic inside the firm. Busy people, working hard and super focused on results don’t go for that option, because they are razor intent on producing results. I like those sort of people and I hate corporate politicians.

As the boss, we are often oblivious to the underground politics going on inside our companies. We are like those busy people focused on results just mentioned, so we are working toward results and can miss what is going on around us. Often staff will not bring it up because they don’t want to get involved in a bun fight inside the company and have bad relations with other staff. They note the politicians activities, don’t join in, but also don’t do anything about eliminating their influence.

When we are busy we can miss some subtle hints. Those observing the politician’s activities won’t speak up directly, but they will lay bread crumbs for us to find. The trouble is Japanese language is already super vague, indirect and the world champion lexicon at obfuscation. Trying to parse linguistic hints in this country is not so easy. We need to get our radar in full proper working order and always be scanning for this type of trouble.

An off the cuff remark, a nuanced comment, a tangential reference may be a secret invitation to go deeper on what is really going on inside the team. We may miss the hint, if we are too busy and too consumed by what is in front of us. So if you hear something that doesn't quite sound right, then down tools and give that person all of your attention and gently lead them along the path of discovery to help you understand what you need to know.

Often when we introduce changes, we are upsetting someone’s vested interests in the old regime. They can often go underground and become quietly vocal, spreading toxic remarks about what a dill the boss is. They are all smiles and hail fellow well met with us, but they are actually shadow ninja trying to undermine what we are doing. We may have thought we had explained the WHY of the change and maybe we did, but they don’t care about our WHY, because they have their own interests driving them. We have to be very careful how we seek feedback on the change acceptance. Subtly asking how others in the firm are adjusting to the change will give some staff the option to raise what is really going on for you. They may not be brave enough to come to you and tell you, but when you open the door to the conversation they will be willing to walk through the threshold and have that private discussion.

It sounds odd to say it, but fans can also be a problem with fairness. They want to be close to you and they enjoy the time you give them. They seek it. The issue arises though with the neutral team members, who are supportive, but wouldn’t quite qualify as “fans”. By openly wanting the time with us, fans are creating problems with favouritism and jealousy on the part of other members of the team. With all the pressure on us, we can be easily susceptible to spending time with our fans, because we crave approval and acceptance. Sycophants are another problem. Sucking up the boss is a high level skill that has been mastered by some people in organisations. From other team members points of view, our fans can look like sycophants and they are carefully observing how we treat them.

We are human beings and we have certain people who are close friends and others less so. It is the same within the company. There will be some staff we like to spend time with more than others. This is where it gets tricky. We have to be very self-observant and self-aware about how we treat the team members. Without realising it we may be spending our time with some more than others. That in itself can be seen as favouritism or the boss likes that person more than me. As much as is humanly possible we have to treat everyone the same. I doubt we will ever get that prospect perfect, but we have to strive to get it right. Remember the entire staff have advanced degrees in boss watching and they observe us constantly every day.