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I did know a VP once that used favoritism to train their team. At a certain level of leadership the team that reports to that level has pretty much self selecte

I did know a VP once that used favoritism to train their team. At a certain level of leadership the team that reports to that level has pretty much self selected for "ambition." As explained to me, by showing favoritism to people who exhibited "best practices" and not to people who didn't, the VP could promote "good behaviors" and train the others on what was expected. I've never been in a leadership role where I think that would have worked for me, and I'm much more of a 'say what you mean' kind of person. As a result I stick with telling people with what is expected of someone in their role and how it is measured.

hungryforcodes 4y ago
Not just VPs, but also parents :)
- andalso2345 4y ago
  Not just VPs, parents, but also Pavlov. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivan_Pavlov https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivan_Pavlov on the road to Taylorism https://www.britannica.com/science/Taylorism https://www.britannica.com/science/Taylorism
- umeshunni 4y ago
  parents are just VPs of their own little empires
poulsbohemian 4y ago
Can I put maybe a less nefarious take on this? There's a lot to be said for promoting / supporting those members of a team who are well-aligned with the mission and approach. Make it really clear that John / Jane are doing the things that we believe will get us to our goals -- praise them in public, for example. To my thinking, it actually helps make clear the rules of the game, IE: these are the behaviors / actions / speech as a leader that I want to see demonstrated within my team. It doesn't have to just be about ambition or "favoritism" per se.
- neon_electro 4y ago
  Do you see a way to encourage this from "management" when they aren't already doing it, or do you see that as a "red flag" to get out?
  - poulsbohemian 4y ago
    I think it depends on a lot of factors... for example, I've been on teams where it's clear that the direction of the team and its manager were different from my career goals or needs - so time to go. I've been on teams in which it did veer toward unbridled favoritism, and then it was also time to get out. On the other hand, I've certainly seen plenty of situations in which it is simply a good leader / manager trying to get everyone pointed in the right direction by using the actions / words of the team as reinforcement for what they want to see more. It's almost Pavlovian in that regard, Ie: the manager tells you what make's their bell ring / give him or her their cookie, etc.
- skibidibipiti 4y ago
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hungryforcodes 4y ago

Not just VPs, but also parents :)

andalso2345 4y ago
Not just VPs, parents, but also Pavlov. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivan_Pavlov https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivan_Pavlov on the road to Taylorism https://www.britannica.com/science/Taylorism https://www.britannica.com/science/Taylorism
umeshunni 4y ago
parents are just VPs of their own little empires

poulsbohemian 4y ago

Can I put maybe a less nefarious take on this? There's a lot to be said for promoting / supporting those members of a team who are well-aligned with the mission and approach. Make it really clear that John / Jane are doing the things that we believe will get us to our goals -- praise them in public, for example. To my thinking, it actually helps make clear the rules of the game, IE: these are the behaviors / actions / speech as a leader that I want to see demonstrated within my team. It doesn't have to just be about ambition or "favoritism" per se.

neon_electro 4y ago
Do you see a way to encourage this from "management" when they aren't already doing it, or do you see that as a "red flag" to get out?
- poulsbohemian 4y ago
  I think it depends on a lot of factors... for example, I've been on teams where it's clear that the direction of the team and its manager were different from my career goals or needs - so time to go. I've been on teams in which it did veer toward unbridled favoritism, and then it was also time to get out. On the other hand, I've certainly seen plenty of situations in which it is simply a good leader / manager trying to get everyone pointed in the right direction by using the actions / words of the team as reinforcement for what they want to see more. It's almost Pavlovian in that regard, Ie: the manager tells you what make's their bell ring / give him or her their cookie, etc.
skibidibipiti 4y ago
[dead]