Counterpoint: Leaders who treat everyone the same are making a mistake

Counterpoint: Leaders who treat everyone the same are making a mistake

Many people in leadership roles pride themselves on the fact that they treat all of the people they lead the same. There are some parents who seek to treat all of their children the same. Managers who seek to treat all of their employees the same. As well as coaches who seek to treat everyone on their team the same.

Regardless of the leadership role, trying to treat everyone the same is a mistake. While on the surface treating everyone the same appears to be fair, it’s really not fair at all.

For example, an inexperienced person may want a leader who gives a lot of directions and follows-up with help often. On the other hand, an experienced person will call this type of leader a micromanager and suffocating.

In addition, some people have personality types that are more passive and others more aggressive. Treating these two diametrically opposed personality types the same will produce two different outcomes. What’s more, there are numerous other personality traits that contrast and require nuance from leadership.

As a result, the goal of a leader should never be to treat everyone the same. Instead, the goal should be to produce the same outcome from everyone’s results. In order to do this, leaders must also play the role of detective. This means they must investigate, interview, examine, observe, record, and follow-up among other things. This is the only way a leader can learn to adjust for those specific personality types that conflict with their default leadership style.

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