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People don’t think a lot about justice anymore. In fact, if you had to, could you think of a particularly just leader? For that matter, what does it mean to be just? SmartBlog on Leadership offers some thoughts on the topic. Here’s one thing to consider:

Fair versus equal

Many of us have just been through end of the fiscal year or are preparing for midyear performance management. This is usually not a fun time to be a leader:  not all the news is good, which creates a need for honest, forthright discussions that unfortunately rarely happen. For many of our people, it’s all about the raise or bonus, not ways to professionally grow.

That’s why many companies treat their people equally — it’s easier. We don’t need those hard, open, straightforward discussions about real performance and contribution. We just pay everyone at this level this much and move on. It’s more objective and clear — just like everyone getting a medal for showing up.

Being a leader requires taking the right road, not the easy road. Treating our people fairly requires judgment, subjectivity, and clear communication of expectations and goals on an ongoing basis since the world around us changes all the time. When we treat our people equally but not fairly, we tell people it’s OK to underperform and under-contribute, undermining the morale of our dedicated and passionate people. Then we are surprised when we get mediocre output and outcomes.

What if we modify the culture to recognize people fairly, based on their work, effort, passion and results, as individuals and teams? We will be surprised to see the positive difference it will make.

Full story at SmartBlog on Leadership.

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