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August 19, 2004

Encouraging Mediocrity??!

I got an email today from a reader about direction of supervisory staff encouraging people to do just what is expected, blend with the crowd, or not be outstanding.

I'm confused! Isn't that like a coach asking players not to play any better than their teammates? So if Mark can't catch the baseball, does it mean you shouldn't? Coaches, by definition, should encourage players to play their best. And so should supervisors.

It can be harder to supervise diverse performers, deal with challenging ideas, and appropriately funnel talents of exceptional performers, but it's also more rewarding, raises the bar for others, and positively impacts results.

In my book, you owe it to yourself to perform the best you can even if others do not encourage you. I don't know about you, but being mediocre is not what I'm aiming for. For more thoughts on this, read my column, The Chicken or the Egg?.

Posted by Nan Russell at August 19, 2004 08:44 AM