A Realistic View of Loyalty

Good Morning...

How was your week?

What is your standing in the race?

How about those around you?

Especially your team mates?

I have written of the many similarities between life and races...

This week...I have been thinking about the Tour de France...

There are so many parallels between it and organizational behaviors...

The race starts with teams of riders...each team having a team leader...

Initially, the teams work together with a focus on the leader...

The leader is the individual rider who has the best chance of winning the overall race...

The team also has "domestiques" who are riders who carry the load for the team.  These riders get water and food...and they buffet the wind...helping the leader conserve energy.  It is seemingly a thankless job...yet the winners owe their victory to them and often show extreme loyalty to them.

Other members of the team include those who are significantly better at time trials or mountain climbing or sprinting...

They are there to win individual honors within the 2000 mile journey...

Whenever their chance to shine arises...the team rises to the occasion...that is if the team leader's position is not compromised by their success...

The team's support is guided by an overriding focus upon and loyalty to the team leader...

That is until that leader has no hope of winning the overall race...(general classification)

...then the team literally breaks down and it becomes a race of "every rider for them self"...

Loyalty to the leader erodes...loyalty to the team erodes...

It makes one wonder whether there is such a thing as loyalty...or if it ever existed in the first place...

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I got into an interesting discussion with a friend about unconditional love...

I do not believe that it exists within the human portion of society...

We tend to romanticize that it exists...but I can cite conditions in which even the strongest love in this world would fail!

"But what about forgiveness?" you may ask...

Forgiving a significant breach in loyalty is just plain foolishness...

Breaches of disloyalty are intentional...a matter of decision...generally (as I think about it...always) driven from a self-serving motive...it unveils the true character of an individual!

Why forgive someone like that!

I believe in forgive and forget...

But I believe that these are options...not a process!

One either is a fool and forgives...or they simply forget that this individual exists!

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Interesting perspectives?

I have always been intrigued by an organization's demand of loyalty from its employees....

I have yet to find an organization who has been loyal to its employees...

An organization is loyal to its employees as long as it is profitable...

STOP for a minute!  This is actually a contradiction!

Loyalty is earned and never bought...it is unconditional...right?

In actuality organizational loyalty is a facade created to reduce employee turn-over and reduce risk...

It is only meant to make (save) money and reduce risk!

It is business pure and simple...

Let me say it again...I have yet to see an organization (especially a publicly traded one) that lived up to the standard that it demanded of its individual members (employees)...

Bar-none...at the first threat of not meeting its financial goals...it turns its back on their loyal employees...it eliminates the "perks" and downsizes...lays people off...in numbers usually large enough that the quarterly objectives are met and bonuses are paid to a meager few!

The bottom-line of organizational loyalty is that it is out the window, when the revenue flow decreases!

So let's think about this a little deeper...loyalty is earned and it is a "two-way street"

It can not be bought or demanded...

And it can not rightfully be one-sided...

One has to ask...is there really such thing as organizational loyalty...

WAIT...let's define loyalty before we go any deeper...

Loyalty is an absolutely consistent and non-compromising behavior where the best interests of one is afforded priority over the interests of another individual (the one in control).

More simply stated loyalty is the trust between individuals (or parties) such that their interests will be given priority over the others interests with absolute consistency.

Now, let's return to our thoughts!

Given that definition...an organization never has loyalty...it has to look out for its own well-being...

The question that haunts me..."Why should employees be loyal to something that will never be loyal in return?"

That is insane!

Let's carry this insanity a bit further!

Why do we give two-week notices?

Have you ever seen someone fired with a two-week notice?

They can walk you out on a moment's notice...

Many will respond...It is the professional and courteous thing to do...WHY?

They won't do it for you!

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I have yet to see an instance where the problems that caused an organization's need to downsize...be that of the "low-level" employees...

Without fail...the collapse of an organization is the result of poor and irresponsible leadership, incompetent and selfish management...

This is what intrigues me...

Who suffers for the incompetence?

Not the ones who are to blame for the downsizing...

They keep their jobs and their paychecks and more often than not...get a bonus!

They are the ones who continue to draw a salary until someone needs to turn off the lights...

The ones who are laid off and hurt are the innocent ones...

It makes sense to me that the ones who should be sitting in the unemployment lines are the ones who messed up the company...

The ones who should continue to receive their paychecks are the ones who did their jobs...

Doesn't that make sense to you?

I ran this thought past a friend who said that retention of leadership has nothing to do with who is to blame for the problems...but is rooted in the old tradition of the captain going down with his ship!

He said that the captains of these organizational ships should go down with them...it is only right!

During our discussion...it came to me that the demand that a "captain go down with his ship" had nothing to do with longevity...and holding the position until  the bitter end...

It was a death sentence to the leader for the failure!

Every passenger could get off the boat safely...but if the ship is sinking...it is the captain's responsibility and he pays the price!

Since there is no death sentence for organizational failure...

Downsizing the staff should be based on performance...

Fire the incompetent individuals who got the organization in that position in the first place...

The organization's situation is either the result of incompetent leadership or intentional (narrow sighted and self-serving) decisions...either case is cause for termination!

If a "low-level" employee was guilty of that...they would be met at the door!  Why does leadership get to sit in their offices and continue to live at their means...while the innocent has to worry about paying for their holiday gifts?

Any leader that refuses to do that...should themselves be fired!

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The 21st century leader runs an organization under these terms...

If an individual performs they have a job and pay...if they do not...they seek other opportunities!

One must act ethically, morally and legally...above all reproof...contributing value above their cost...

This is the most honest that a 21st century organization can be...and if that is done with consistency and integrity...

Turn-over will occur only with incompetent people (terminations) and the rest will be able to trust they will have a job as long as they are working!

No more need for the facade!

AND no more need for lay-offs and downsizing...

It is all about customer focus and "the genius of the and"...

If the customer's needs are truly at the forefront of leadership's priorities...and the leadership acts consistently with its employees...the revenue will flow...

Focus on revenue flow will always compromise the customer and the employee!

It is "step two" in the organizational death spiral!

At this point there is no chance of return!

This ship is sinking!

If we are truly holding to the spirit of the captain's responsibility...

It is time for him to go down with that ship!

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Where are we going with all of this?

Loyalty is an outdated concept...

It is not part of the 21st century...

Loyalty is a behavior that is to shared between individuals...it is a "one relationship at a time" thing...

There is no such thing as mass loyalty!

In fact...I have learned from my experience...that there is no such thing as loyalty...

I once thought that there were people that I could depend upon...

In all but a few cases...I was disappointed...actually my loyalty was betrayed by their lack of loyalty...

I discovered that I was lied to...to get my loyalty...and never repaid for my sacrifice!

The sad thing is that there will come a time...that these individuals will again try to play their loyalty card with me...

The sad thing is that they will find that it expired long ago...because of their own actions...

Forgive or forget?

I am not a fool and either should you be!

My advice...Just simply forget about them!

They do not deserve the time...

Where were they when you needed them?

I can answer that!

Simply looking out for their own self-serving needs...rather than living up to their hollow commitments of loyalty which were...

To look out for your best interests...at the risk of their own!  Knowing that you were looking out for theirs...better than they ever could!

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It is time to rethink the outdated concept of loyalty!

For a few lucky individuals...there are those who still deserve loyalty...but these individuals are rare!

They need to be cherished...

All others are simply a commodity...pay what you have to...to get what you need...and then throw them away!

They are going to do the same to you!

Just do not compromise your integrity and honesty...like they do...to get what you need...

Be straight-forward and forthright!  Open and honest...

Don't stoop to treachery and deception and compromise like they do...

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One of the blessings bestowed upon the truly successful is the ability to peacefully sleep...

Never compromise that blessing...keep your heart and intent pure!

You'll never have anxiety or fear for what the morning will bring!

Sleep peacefully...

Pura Vida...my dear friends...

Sleep tonight in peace!

or

Change what needs to be changed so that you can do so!