Unfocused Strategy
One of the biggest mistakes any team leader can make is trying to please everyone. Every individual has different goals and motivations. Some are ambitious, desiring to improve their current positions and get promoted. Others value their families and just come to work to fulfill their duties without wanting any responsibilities. Trying to make everyone happy makes a leader end up not pleasing anyone at all.
My family has been running a small family business for the last thirty years, and I have been working in this business ever since I turned eighteen. In 2017, the business was facing a financial crisis, and at the same time, our employees were demanding a pay rise. I was given the responsibility to come up with the best strategy to satisfy the needs of our employees without hurting the business’s financial position. The first action I took was to interview the employees to find out what their expectations were about the pay rise. Some of the employees claimed that they were working harder than others and deserved to be paid more. Others needed money to support their lifestyles, and others to fulfill family requirements. Unfortunately, the business did not have enough funds to pay everyone as they desired. Still, instead of choosing whom I thought deserved to be rewarded, for instance, giving high performers a pay rise, I decided to please everyone by giving all employees a lesser but equal pay (Sandhu et al., 2017). I thought the strategy would make everyone happy, but unfortunately, it discouraged all the high performers in the business.
Within a short time, I realized that my strategy had failed. The entire team was just happy enough not to quit employment. However, even the highest performers stopped doing their best. They started doing just what was required to get a job done. Without being adequately compensated, they realized that they had no reason to work hard; after all, they will be equally rewarded with the lazy workers (Ali & Ahmed, 2019). My attempt to please everyone resulted in unintended consequences, and soon, I realized that I was leading a team of average workers, which was not what I had envisioned in my goal of trying to please everyone.
Based on personal SWOT analysis, I came up with a strategy that would help me avoid trying to please everyone. The first step involved trusting my instincts. I learned not to be troubled by the opinion of others. It required a lot of practice to gain confidence and begin trusting my judgment. I also learned to accept that it is fine to make mistakes and not be harsh on myself. The second strategy was to become authentic. I learned to be receptive to the opinions of others without being rude. After that, I would form my judgments and be accountable for the decisions I make and stop blaming others when things did not work out as I had envisioned. I realized that being responsible for my actions was a goal worth pursuing. Lastly, I stopped supplicating to others. By supplicating to my employees, I put myself at risk of taking on their troubles and financial problems and aking them mine, which affected my judgment during decision-making. Furthermore, I ended up getting caught up in their financial woes. Instead, I chose to be accountable for my decisions and actions.
When a leader tries to please everyone, they end up making everyone happy. Making financial decisions regarding pay increases is crucial for every leader. In many cases, a company is not in a position to meet the needs of all employees. Therefore, it is important to reward high performers only to create motivation. Aiming to please everyone means taking up their financial problems and making them personal, an action that might lead to decisions that hurt the company in the long run.
References
Ali, R., & Ahmed, M. (2019). Impact of Motivation and Job Satisfaction on Employee’s Performance: An Empirical Study. International Review Of Business Research Papers, 5(5), 270-279. https://doi.org/10.9734/ajeba/2019/v10i430112
Sandhu, M., Iqbal, J., Ali, W., & Tufail, M. (2017). Effect of Employee Motivation on Employee Performance. Journal Of Business And Social Review In Emerging Economies, 3(1), 85-100. https://doi.org/10.26710/jbsee.v3i1.182