Don't Erode Your Credibility. Never Play Favorites

There are many ways to get entangled in unnecessary situations at the workplace when, ideally, your mind must be focused on delivering the best outcomes and strengthening your credibility. As a manager or as an employee engaging in group-ism and aligning forces for temporary gains can often backfire. Favoritism is a serious issue at the workplace and studies indicate that playing ‘favorites’ has implications such as “negative emotions toward the organization, less loyalty to the company, less job satisfaction, stronger intentions to quit the job, less work motivation, and more emotional exhaustion”. The world is a small place and what you do, comes around. Here are a few tips that can help you stay uncluttered and be your best at work.

1.      Taking sides: Office dynamics change. Sometimes, very quickly. When you take sides, you are creating issues not just for yourself but also for the team and organization you work in. Make no mistake – people watch your actions and notice whom you spend time with, in office and outside the workplace. Know that you are in the organization for a purpose. You have been offered a position for a purpose. First focus on fulfilling that. If you do get time (I will be surprised if you do!) after that, try and invest time to learn more and contribute even more to the business.

2.      Not standing by the team: As a leader, there is nothing worse than making a team worse than what you inherited. It is akin to professional ‘suicide’.  When the team is not performing, it reflects on the manager or leader. What you do with the resources you have demonstrates your leadership. If there are shortcomings, the solution is not to first bring in people to replace team members but to coach and get the team up to the standard that is expected. Yes, if after repeated rounds of feedback and if the team members show no interest to change, then having the right conversation helps.

3.      Being inconsistent: When the favorites’ mistakes are ignored and the same flaws among others are reprimanded, it leads to perceptions of inconsistency. A leader can ill afford to be inconsistent. Likewise, making a decision and reversing it when the situation impacts people close to the leader, can again, not go down well. The workplace has eyes and ears and nothing goes unnoticed. It all adds up and word goes beyond the workplace to other organizations about the capabilities and competencies of the leader.

4.      Pandering to leaders: Just ‘managing upwards’ does not help in the end. This is not leadership but a reflection of your character. Just surviving and keeping your role will not help either. Doing what senior management asks you to do will not take you far. Be attentive to what your peers and the team needs and invest time to make things work. Not having enough insights on what the team does or experiences each day, is a recipe for disaster. Lastly, not spending time to appreciate the culture before attempting far-reaching changes can create more damage than good. 

5.      Focusing on faults: Nothing can beat a leader or manager who recognizes true potential and inspires the team to raise the bar. When they focus on the positives and role model behaviors for other to emulate you have a high performing team that everyone loves to engage. On the contrary, when the energy is diverted to nit-picking and finding faults it leads to an erosion of trust and creates a culture of risk aversion. Why take a chance with a manager who can’t recognize good work and puts the spotlight on negativity?

What are your thoughts? Experienced such people at the workplace? What strategies worked for you? Keen to hear your views.

Other posts in the ‘Credibility Degraders’ Series are on Linkedin:

·      Don’t Ignore Credibility Degraders. You Cannot ‘Not’ Communicate

·      Be Watchful Of Credibility ‘Degraders’. ‘Small’ Stuff Does Matter

·      Disengage From Credibility Degraders. Flip Your Perspective

·        Avoid Credibility Degraders. Own Your Development

·      Shun Credibility Degraders. Protect The Culture

·      Be Wary of Credibility Degraders. Avoid Mindless Interactions

·      Be Aware of Credibility Degraders. Know what Good and Great Looks Like

·      Don’t Ignore Credibility Degraders. Partner for Success

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