How is it that some people really do need to “dress for the job they want” and others can be soaring up to the C Suite in a gross t-shirt?
Why do some people get exceptions to the rules and others don’t?
Why does it matter to be well liked at work?
Context is everything.
So, let’s try this.
Imagine every factor comes with a certain number of imaginary (and often subconscious) points.
+5 very polished
+10 highly technically skilled
+20 follows through every single time
-5 can be difficult to work with
-20 emotional outbursts
Some made up total number = star player
Every leader is doing some version of this math (without actually thinking about it in terms of points) when they make decisions around hiring, firing, promoting and more. Sometimes these are fair and sometimes they are straight up bias. But they’re real.
For some leaders, having strong bonds with your teammates is worth big points and for some leaders its meaningless. If you can figure out (roughly) what level of points your leadership puts on things, you can decide if the suit is worth it. This is about noticing what your leader *does* and not about what your leader says.
As a leader, it’s so important to identify our own point allocations and make sure they’re effective. Sadly, I need to remove my instinct to add points for Bravo TV knowledge.