Leadership is the Only Deterrence to Mediocrity

Dear reader,

Welcome to this week's edition of "Elevations."?

I frequently remind the CEOs I work with that "what you tolerate is viewed as what you endorse."

Leaders who tolerate bad behavior or poor performance undermine their organizations' potential. Whenever I witness poor performance and dysfunction in organizations I deal with, either professionally or as a consumer, I recognize that the root cause is a failure of leadership. When leadership is unaware, it amounts to negligence—which is far worse than complacency.

The more significant problem may be that we have normalized chaos and dysfunction to a greater degree as a society. We live in a VUCA world, where volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity have become the normal conditions in which we operate. This is why competent leadership is essential.

It is likely more accurate to suggest that what you tolerate defines who you are. Leaders must strive to see the world as clearly as possible, establish clear expectations and standards, and offer inspiration and clarity of purpose. It isn't good enough to discourage mediocrity by encouraging people to be diligent and conscientious; leaders must actively deter mediocrity to maintain a sustainable competitive advantage in today's world.

This is true of business leaders and applies even more urgently to those seeking elected office to lead our nation forward.

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Leadership is the Only Deterrence to Mediocrity

Pain can be a good thing when it indicates something is wrong. When the source of pain is obvious, we can react appropriately once we determine whether we need medical attention or just require some rest. But it’s foolish to assume everything is fine in the absence of pain. I was diagnosed with blood cancer solely based on markers found in a blood test. I had no pain and no noticeable symptoms whatsoever.?

Genuine and severe emotional pain also often has no observable symptoms. When pain is self-reported, it is more easily dismissed. The high rate of suicide, and among children in particular, points to the danger of ignoring distress that isn’t obvious.?

The problem with pain is that people have different thresholds. Some people cannot tolerate the slightest discomfort, while others seem to endure and even find strength in pushing through their pain. We can describe pain with words like mild, moderate, extreme, or excruciating, but these are all relative to the person reporting. People with severe injuries may not feel any pain because their body is in shock. People who suffer from chronic pain can learn to ignore and live with it out of necessity or by choosing to avoid taking medications. Some people find virtue in suffering or penance when they believe they deserve it.

Like people, organizations also suffer. I’m not speaking to the collective suffering of the people but the corpus of the organization itself. But unlike people, this suffering is always detectable and measurable. We find increases in errors, defects in production, and loss of profit. Other symptoms include low energy, infighting, constant disagreements, and high absenteeism and employee turnover rates.??

When the symptoms are apparent, but the threshold is such that the pain is tolerated, the organization suffers from mediocrity. Many organizations normalize the chaos and shut out the noise, allowing things to stagnate so long as there is sufficient cash to keep things going, even to the point of possible impending bankruptcy.?High-performing organizations refuse to tolerate such malaise.?

Withholding medical care from children is criminal, as is abusing an animal. Businesses that ignore the dire needs of their organizations could be viewed the same way, but in reality, it is not nearly as simple. Many of the CEOs I have worked with are well aware of the mediocrity within their companies. They don’t know how to solve the problem because it resides in the culture. Problems with things are more easily fixed than problems with people.?

The way to eliminate mediocrity is through deterrence.?When leaders make it painful to underperform and show people a pathway toward finding satisfaction and joy in their accomplishments, the organization immediately begins to improve. It is impossible to force people to perform to their potential, and performance incentives aren’t the answer. The best deterrence to mediocrity is for leaders to establish clear expectations and provide both inspiration and clarity of purpose.

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