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Entitlement Mentality is a Poor Excuse

Some worry that organizing around the team will foster an entitlement mentality among employees that will backfire on the well-meaning leader. Empowerment will lead to unrealistic expectations that in turn will force the leader to buckle to ever-increasing demands that will eventually break the organization.

I’m sorry, but I’m not sympathetic to this line of thinking. It’s what I call a leadership excuse. And, of course, since our hallmark is No Excuses Leadershipâ„¢, we don’t go there.

There are unexpected complications, extenuating circumstances, and disingenuous employees everywhere. These are the leadership realities we face and never form the basis of a rationale for poor results, weak decisions or ineffective policies.

Back to entitlement. How employees respond to radical empowerment varies. Hence the tight link with accountability for results.

To forfeit the potential of an empowered, fully engaged team in order to avoid the occasional risk of destructive entitlement mentalities is like giving up the benefits of a regular exercise routine because there’s a risk of injury. The risk is real, sure, but the solution erased your only chance for success. What good is that?

Where do your solutions remove more than the presenting problem and inadvertently undermine what you need to make progress?

Catch up on the entire Influencing Others series here.



Here's My Thought...


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