Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash.
Quietly, I have supported my coworkers and colleagues. It's not something I advertise - and I am not advertising it here.
No, it's not worth advertising.
The focus isn't on me. It's on them, and that's where my focus belongs insofar as supporting their ambitions to meet promise and potential.
Why Support Coworkers and Colleagues?
It's an expression of observable trajectory. John has potential. Jane has promise. I could see them succeeding beyond their current performance or even their current job's scope. I should productively challenge them to explore their promise and potential, and the ambition that may otherwise drive them.
It is incumbent upon others to promote their interests. The case to be made for supporting coworkers and colleagues is especially when John and Jane do not see a path toward the advancement that I can.
The conversation may be hard. It may be out of the blue. It is essential.
The Best for the Person
I'm not looking for quid pro quo here. I look for neither professional relationships, nor to inspire friendship on the back of favors. Frankly, neither is desired. Moreover, supporting coworkers and colleagues in the way I've described should not be the basis for professional relationships or friendship. As the saying goes, it's strictly business.
And it's conducting business that requires--requires--getting the best of everyone involved. Whether it's for a client, the development of a product, or conducting a service, it is imperative to work collaboratively. That may require an extreme - pushing for a coworker or colleague to leave the business.
As Ryan Bonnici wrote in his 2018 Harvard Business Review article, Why I Encourage My Best Employees to Consider Outside Job Offers:
When I make clear to my employees that I want them to consider all options for their careers, they see that I’m genuinely committed to helping them learn and grow. They know it’s not lip service; I care about their development. If I think they’ve gotten to the top of their learning curve on my team, and I can’t figure out a way to help them grow, I will support their efforts to get a job somewhere else. [1]
Holism, Positive-Sum & A Code (Honorable Business)
What does teamwork and collaboration have to do with the promise and potential of others? Why not focus on oneself? Why put oneself out for others' interests when it comes to the business's interests?
The answers are the same.
Photo by Quino Al on Unsplash.
I am a firm believer in holism. I am a firm believer in positive-sum. And I am a firm believer in the preachings of Dr. James Otteson, the John T. Ryan Jr. Professor of Business Ethics at the Mendoza College of Business at the University of Notre Dame.
First, holism. Holism is a theory that, in business, deems the whole greater than the magnitude of its individual parts. For example, Apple, Inc. has a product ecosystem that outstrips the iPhone or MacBook Pro as singular products in that very ecosystem.
Second, positive-sum. Positive-sum is the opposite of zero-sum. In zero-sum situations, one gains at the expense of another. I win, you lose. In positive-sum scenarios, we both win. With both an iPhone and a MacBook Pro, one can be more productive than with just one or the other.
Third, Professor Otteson has a term, honorable business. In a blogpost for the Notre Dame Deloitte Center for Ethical Leadership, Brett Beasley wrote of Otteson's honorable business:
Honorable business creates value—in more ways than one. First, honorable business creates monetary value. It makes both individuals and society more prosperous. And it also creates "moral value.” It can "generate better relations among people." ...honorable business encourages us to consider others’ interests and treat them as peers with dignity... [2]
Nothing explains this more than Bonnici's seemingly radical notion of pushing employees away from the business. The dignity of others has positive-sum reverberations. "If they leave our company feeling good about us, they'll speak positively about the brand. If they feel good about me, they'll encourage great people to come work for me." [1]
And this idea of supporting coworkers and colleagues comes full circle.
How do you support the ambitions of others to meet promise and potential?
[1] Bonnici, Ryan. "Why I Encourage My Best Employees To Consider Outside Job Offers". Harvard Business Review | Digital Article |Employee Retention, 2018, https://hbr.org/2018/09/why-i-encourage-my-best-employees-to-consider-outside-job-offers. Accessed 8 Mar 2022.
[2] Beasley, Brett. “The Power of Positive-Sum Thinking.” Notre Dame Deloitte Center for Ethical Leadership | Research and Insights | Thought Leadership. Accessed 12 Jan. 2023.