The Rules Don’t Apply to Me! (Or, How Not to Be an Entitled Leader)
Jun 13, 2023
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Discover the subtle ways entitlement infiltrates leadership and how it undermines team dynamics. Explore the importance of self-reflection and accountability in creating a positive workplace culture. Learn about the dangers of leadership entitlement and the power of servant leadership. Delve into the necessity of honoring your word to build trust and integrity within teams. Gain insights into aligning values during recruitment to foster a cohesive workforce. Uncover five key areas to combat entitlement and promote a culture of contribution.
Leaders often struggle to recognize their own entitlement while easily spotting it in others, highlighting the need for self-reflection.
A culture of entitlement in organizations can emerge when leaders expect unearned benefits, underscoring the importance of cultivating gratitude.
Honoring commitments is crucial for leaders to build trust and discourage a cycle of entitlement within their teams.
Deep dives
Understanding Personal Entitlement in Leadership
Leaders often struggle with recognizing entitlement within themselves while easily identifying it in others. This attitude can manifest in leaders exploiting their positions or treating rules as inapplicable to them. It's important for leaders to self-reflect and identify these tendencies, as they can lead to a culture of entitlement in organizations. Addressing one's own entitlement is the first step toward fostering accountability and ethical leadership.
The Illusion of Unrecognized Benefits
Leaders sometimes expect perks or bonuses without any corresponding achievement or contribution. This disconnect can lead to unsustainable practices, such as insisting on luxury benefits during times of poor performance. A sense of entitlement arises when leaders feel these benefits are owed rather than appreciated as privileges. Cultivating gratitude instead of demanding rights is essential for avoiding entitlement in leadership roles.
Valuing All Work from a Leadership Perspective
An issue of entitlement surfaces when leaders believe certain tasks are beneath them due to their status. This perception devalues the contributions of others and can set a poor example for team dynamics. Leaders need to be willing to engage in any tasks they ask their team members to undertake, reinforcing the idea that all work is important. Demonstrating a willingness to help in various capacities fosters a spirit of teamwork and respect across the organization.
The Importance of Honoring Commitments
Leaders must commit to honoring their word, as failing to do so creates a culture of cynicism among teams. This principle of integrity is vital, as breaking commitments undermines trust and sets a negative example. Leaders who give themselves permission to disregard their commitments perpetuate entitlement within their organizations. By consistently honoring their word, leaders can cultivate a culture founded on responsibility, accountability, and trust.
Taking Ownership of Results
True leadership involves taking ownership of both successes and failures, avoiding the temptation to shift blame to others or external circumstances. By reflecting on their contributions to both positive and negative outcomes, leaders can promote a culture of accountability. This mindset encourages continuous improvement and learning, reinforcing the importance of personal responsibility in achieving results. Leaders set the standard for their teams, and embracing ownership fosters a productive and high-performing environment.
It can be easier and more comfortable to spot the entitlement we see in others, but much more difficult to name it in ourselves. And often, when there’s an entitlement issue within our organization, it’s a top-down problem that needs to be addressed.
In this episode, Megan and Michael walk through five areas of entitlement that can creep up in all of us, and how rooting them out helps create a culture and team of people marked by gratitude, integrity, and honesty.
In this episode, you’ll discover—
The danger of exploitation through power
How our expectations of unearned benefits affects our attitudes
The cure for entitlement
Why your team member may be resistant toward certain tasks