Don’t Make This Mistake In Leadership
The late great Jack Welch – former CEO of General Electric, the largest corporation in the world during his tenure – was famous for his management practice of differentiation among people. Or some would say infamous.
Jack’s concept of differentiation required managers to assess their employees, and then separate them into categories based on their level of performance:
The top 20% were celebrated with praise, bonuses, stock options, advanced training, etc.
The middle 70% were challenged to set goals for growth, offered training to develop themselves further, and coached to raise their level of performance.
The bottom 10% were let go. Fired. Jack believed this served both the organization and the person who was let go. Often, the terminated employee went on to find success in other companies or pursuits where they were more likely to excel.
“Hospitable leadership wants the best for everyone involved, which sometimes looks like a raise, and other times a termination. Don’t make the mistake of forgetting to differentiate.”
I had the privilege to spend some time with Jack, and I can tell you that I never met anyone so interested in people and passionate about helping them develop, grow, and advance in their lives. (How else could Jack have called my book The Hospitable Leader “a meaningful new approach to leadership” except that at his core he truly loved the people he led? I'm smiling by the way.)
Do you think Jack Welch sounds tough? Have you read the parable Jesus told about the bags of gold lately?
The master – a type of Christ – makes an investment of differing amounts in three separate people, asking for each to invest and make a profit on the amount they were given. Here are the results:
Two guys make plans, go to work, take risks, and reap a profit. The master rewards them generously.
The third guy takes what he was given and hides it, fearful that if he tries to grow it he might lose it. The master takes the money he had given him and gives it to the top producer. And then he throws the guy who didn't produce into outer darkness. Then Jesus says:
“I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but as for those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away." (Luke 19:26 NIV)
OUR MANDATE TO PRODUCE
This is not an unusual theme in Jesus’ words to the people on His team. To make clear the performance expectations, remember what he said to his followers who did not bear fruit? God differentiates.
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful… This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, … You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last...” (John 15:1 – 2/ 8/ 16 NIV)
It is important to note that we are brought into relationship with the Father by grace – not by performance. But once we are connected to Him we are expected to produce as He, by grace, empowers us with His Spirit.
“Grace cannot be an excuse for lackluster production. We simply must take the investment He has made in us and cooperate with Him to bear good fruit in every area of our lives. ”
This is our Mandate to Produce. How does this change how we lead and live?
1. Hospitable leaders care so much about the people they serve that they expect them to produce and reward them accordingly.
This may sound obvious to those of you in a for-profit business but I think it's more difficult to practice in nonprofits and church work.
Christian leaders in general have a difficult time differentiating among people. Why? We know we are all equal in the sight of God, and as believers we are all one through Christ.
My suggestion, however, is to differentiate among people as to their performance.
STEPS FOR DIFFERENTIATING
One of the things we've tried to do on our staff team at The Life Christian Church is to regularly review people on their performance and reward them according to merit. Everyone is treated the same in many respects (like an annual COLA increase) but we try to find ways to uniquely reward over-the-top performers.
If everyone is always rewarded equally, I would not be following a critical teaching of Jesus or the best available management practices, and not serving the people I lead as well as I should.
That means I sometimes need to engage in uncomfortable conversations. Thankfully, I’ve found a way to address the issue in a positive-employee and organization-affirming way.
You can find an email example to start the conversation here, as well as templates for celebratory and appreciative emails.
However you address it, for the sake of all your people, and your mission, poor performance must be assessed and addressed.
Of course, the ultimate “reward” for consistently poor performance is what Dr. Henry Cloud calls a “necessary ending.” He writes:
“I do believe that there is some number of people in every organization and every life who will be routinely ‘let go’ if leadership is doing its stewardship job. The very nature of people is that there are some good ones who are not right for you, some sick ones in denial who are not going to change, and some who are adding nothing. Always. So if no one ever leaves your organization or your life, then you are in some sort of denial and enabling some really sick stuff all over the place.”
Enough said.
2. We must each live knowing we are being assessed and will be rewarded accordingly.
This differentiation thing should be a reality check for each of us. Whether we like it or not we are all evaluated on whether or not we “bring it” to life every day. We are being evaluated by the people who lead us, the people we lead, our spouse, kids, friends, and neighbors.
Need encouragement? Check out Paul’s 5 Encouragement Hacks.
Most importantly, we are being evaluated by God… and will be rewarded accordingly.
As I wrote in a recent article, each of us was made to be indispensable, but that doesn't mean that we can just show up and punch the clock in any area of our lives.
We must live out our indispensability. We must live like a person that the world can't do without.
This world – and certainly your world of family, friends, business, or church – cannot be all it was meant to be without you playing the role you were made to play.
We each have a mandate to produce.
Do you agree? Have you been taught about the philosophy of differentiation and applied in life and business? Drop a comment and share your experience!