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Avoid The Johny-Come-Lately

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Two other areas of unfairness and abuse are also worth noting. First, tolerating anyone’s not doing what is expected or doing less than is expected is unfair to others on the team. Letting shirkers get away with it does nothing but shift the burden unfairly onto others. Second, assuming everyone is equally efficient is wrong. This is particularly unfair to those who are unusually efficient. The exceptional few can routinely do a two-hour job in an hour and a half. Do you then expect them to do more work in the extra half hour?

a proactive leader does not think so. He will discuss options with them, but the choice is theirs. a proactive leader certainly would not increase the load just because someone is especially efficient and hard-working.

There is a further but hidden area of unfairness even a proactive leader can overlook if he is not very attentive. People should not be expected to do things they do not know how to do or do not know how to do well. The solution here is fairly simple. Identify individuals who do know how to do what is expected and add them to the team. For a proactive leader, there is an even better solution. Train people who are already on the team to do the job, to do it well. They are already onboard, already committed to the mission, already vested in the team’s success. a proactive leader knows it is always better to invest in those who are already on your team than to take a chance on newcomers. The Johnny-come-lately likely will do fine, but a proactive leader prefers sticking with the horses that got him there, whenever he can.