Leadership often entails walking a delicate tightrope between recognizing and nurturing high-potential team members while also supporting those who may be struggling. However, many leaders find themselves inadvertently favoring high achievers, neglecting the needs of others, and inadvertently perpetuating a culture of favoritism within their teams.
This article delves into the importance of balancing grace, providing guidance on how leaders can cultivate a fair and supportive environment for ALL team members, regardless of their performance levels.
Understanding Grace in the Workplace
Grace in leadership refers to the capacity to extend understanding, empathy, and support. In theory, it’s a simple concept. However, any leader knows that it’s never that simple to implement. The challenge is to extend grace to all team members, regardless of their current skill or performance levels, which are rarely uniform across teams. To successfully achieve this delicate balance, a leader has to recognize that each individual brings unique strengths and challenges to the table and understand that growth and development are ongoing processes.
The Pitfalls of Unbalanced Grace: Perceived Favoritism
Favoritism can manifest in various ways within teams, often without leaders even realizing it.
Common signs include:
Unequal distribution of resources - Leaders may allocate more time, attention, or opportunities to high-achieving team members, inadvertently neglecting those who are struggling.
Blaming the individual - Instead of providing additional support and guidance to struggling team members, leaders may blame them for their mediocre performance, failing to acknowledge underlying factors or systemic issues.
Lack of feedback and development opportunities - High-potential team members may receive regular feedback, coaching, and opportunities for growth, while struggling team members are left to fend for themselves, further hindering their development.
Exclusion from decision-making processes - Leaders may consult high-achieving team members exclusively, overlooking the valuable insights and perspectives of those who are struggling.
Do any of these resonate with you? If so, not to worry! Keep reading to find out how you can adapt your leadership habits to be a little more fair to your struggling team members.
Finding Balance
Balancing grace requires intentional effort and a commitment to fairness and equity within the team. Below are 5 strategies for leaders to consider integrating into their current leadership practices:
Recognize individual strengths and challenges: Take the time to understand each team member's unique strengths, weaknesses, and growth areas, and tailor support accordingly. They might simply be too afraid to ask for help - ironically, out of fear of coming across as incompetent.
Provide targeted support and development opportunities: Offer additional guidance, training, and resources to struggling team members to help them improve their skills and performance. Start with one skill they are perhaps most interested in learning, and start building their skills (and confidence) from there.
Foster a culture of accountability: Hold all team members accountable for their actions and performance, while also providing the necessary support and resources to help them succeed. For this to work, expectations must be made clear to all team members. I also recommend going the extra mile and describing what a “satisfactory” work would look like vs “exceptional” performance. Why bother? Because some situations will require team members to do work that is just good enough to prioritize more time to other key initiatives and tasks.
Encourage collaboration and inclusivity: Create opportunities for all team members to contribute their ideas and perspectives, fostering a sense of belonging and engagement. When this collaborative environment is created, team members are more likely to ask for help or admit that they aren’t progressing as quickly as they initially thought they would. Life happens to all of us – if people are encouraged to step in and help when needed, everyone wins, and they are also more likely to return the favor.
Lead by example: Demonstrate fairness, empathy, and inclusivity in your own actions and decisions, setting a positive example for the rest of the team to follow. I think I say this in almost all of my newsletters: leaders, YOU are responsible for setting the tone. Don’t just say it, make a habit of consistently showing and exhibiting the same behaviors you expect of your team members.
Simply by growing their awareness around habits that could lead team members to perceive favoritism, leaders are more likely to engage in behaviors that will work to knock down those beliefs. By cultivating a culture of fairness, empathy, and support, leaders can foster an environment where all team members feel valued, included, and empowered to reach their full potential – though at their own pace, and can unlock the collective talents and strengths of their teams, driving greater innovation, productivity, and success.