My Six-Figure Rule
MindSet’s Leadership Principle #3 says this: Leaders work hard to help their employees find success at work and in life.
Yep. That’s one of our seven fundamental principles of leadership, and I stand by it 100%.
Here’s another insight I stand by just as strongly: One of the worst patterns we see is a supervisor working harder to help an employee succeed than the employee is working to please their supervisor.
When a frontline employee hasn’t fully bought into the idea of working hard to meet the expectations of their supervisor, they may need some “encouragement” to grasp that concept. I sometimes call this a “parental” visit – often best delivered by someone a step or two above the employee’s immediate supervisor.
That’s part of good leadership. People sometimes need coaching, encouragement, correction, and another chance.
But my patience changes dramatically when we get to what I call six-figure employees – people being paid north of $100,000. My tolerance for effort or attitude problems with this group plummets.
Let me give you a few examples.
- A CEO is working hard to keep a director from moping, constantly walking on eggshells to protect that director’s fragile ego.
- An owner is losing sleep over the ongoing conflict between the COO and the CHRO.
- A knowledgeable but temperamental CFO regularly leaves hurt feelings and anger in their wake – all of which the CEO is expected to clean up.
When I encounter situations like these that have gone on for months or years, my head feels like it wants to explode.
So here is my rule for leaders who find themselves constantly placating, smoothing things over, or picking up the rubble behind one of their highest-paid direct reports:
When you are paying someone six figures, they had better be making your life better, not worse.
Of course, it’s impossible to always please the boss. Good executives disagree. They challenge assumptions. They deliver bad news. They occasionally make mistakes. But there is a huge difference between challenging the boss and being a burden to the boss.
An executive should understand that part of their job is to make the person above them more successful. They should solve problems rather than repeatedly create them. They should reduce drama rather than generate it. They should carry weight rather than add weight. And especially when they are being paid a lot of money to do so.
Now, there is one complication.
Sometimes the highly paid employee who is making the CEO’s or owner’s life miserable is also extremely valuable to the bottom line. We must be realists. If we have only one sonar operator on our battleship, we may have to tolerate some lousy behavior for a while.
For a while. That’s the important part.
Don’t allow a highly paid employee to hold unique knowledge, relationships, or skills over your head indefinitely. Find another sonar operator. Train someone already on staff. Build redundancy. Reduce your dependence.
Then have the parental visit.
The message should be clear: You are too important to this organization – and being paid too much – to behave in ways that make everyone around you less effective.
At that point, change should occur. Either the executive shapes up and starts making your life – and the organization – better, or you help them find the door.
So, owners and senior leaders, follow my Six-Figure Rule, at least in spirit: Six-figure employees should be making your life better, not worse.
That seems like a pretty minimal expectation.
Because if you want to experience CEO hell, just build an executive team filled with highly paid people who make your life harder.
