Surely hard work and talent will get you where you want to be at work? In truth, sought-after posts go to those who look beyond the limits of meritocracy – and it is the coach’s job to help them capitalise on what they do best By SUZANNE DOYLE-MORRIS
There is a lie that all organisations like to tell themselves – that only the best and the brightest succeed, creating a ‘naturally occurring’ aristocracy of talent. However, one doesn’t have to look further than the dramatic economic crises of the past 18 months or the dearth of diversity in senior teams, to realise that while the theory may be sound, the practice of meritocracy is not so straightforward.
To borrow from Al Gore, the “inconvenient truth” of modern workplaces is that while hard work counts for a lot, it is far from the whole picture.
The most senior positions go to those who look beyond the myth of meritocracy and recognise that their success will also depend largely on the relationships they build, the risks they are able to pull off and the profile they create for themselves. This is not to say that delivery of good work is unimportant – it is vital – however, delivery is rarely a challenge for many of my clients; it is drawing attention to their wins that can be the obstacle.
It is our job as coaches to help clients see not only what they are doing well, but also their blind spots and how to make sure they are capitalising on their achievements.
1. Play the game
A client who worked in pharmaceuticals told me about an informal discussion she’d had with former lab colleagues, all of whom belonged to ethnic minorities or were women.
While they all loved their profession, they also agreed that they considered engaging in office politics and networking a waste of time. They felt that they should refuse to dignify these ‘lowly games’ with their participation.
We talked through her initial intolerance for game playing, as most of the games in these fields have never included women or ethnic minorities as key players; nor were they invited to help create the rules. Indeed she had sought coaching because while the quality of her work was regarded as strong, she was not seen as leadership material.
To help her engage with more senior people in a way that maintained her integrity, we looked at her aspirations. These did include greater management responsibilities.
We discussed her readiness for a promotion and what opportunities were available to her to draw attention to her work, and pragmatically, what both the costs and benefits would be.
Once she could see that she was in the driver’s seat and could pick aspects of profile-raising that felt true to her, she warmed to the idea.
Make it work
l Look at when the client was last truly recognised for their efforts. Who gave them recognition and how did they influence that process?
l†Play with the idea of leadership and personal style – if a client doesn’t feel recognised, how would they ‘do leadership’ differently to encompass a fairer version of meritocracy? Getting them to verbalise their own leadership style is often a first step in getting them comfortable with taking on those responsibilities themselves.
Fatal flaws
l†Ignoring the limitations of self-sufficiency. Doing everything themselves and avoiding delegation may have served them in the past, but it will become less sustainable or even desirable, the more senior they become.
l†Minimising the challenges a client may face when working in an environment in which they are not a majority group member.
2. Must try harder?
In transactional analysis terms, these clients may be classified as ‘Try Harder’ types. They believe that if they just put in more effort, they will be recognised and thus succeed.
As much as I would love that to be true, every work environment in which I have coached or indeed worked myself, has been less than a meritocratic ideal. It is a key realisation for many of my clients, and is often the point at which we begin working together.
Many professionals have been historically rewarded for doing well at school and landing early jobs through sheer hard work alone. The trick for any professional, as they advance through their career, is to realise how vital it is to raise their profile and make others aware of what they are achieving, rather than focusing purely on achievement and hoping others will notice.
Recognising the limitations of meritocracy in real-world settings is vital. As explained in a review of the sociology text, The Meritocracy Myth: “Being part of the dominant group constitutes an invisible, and therefore deniable, form of unearned privilege that has cumulative effects… another advantage to the privileged who can then engage in greater risk-taking behaviour with bigger potential pay-off because they have greater resources to fall back on.”1
Another client, the MD of a global consultancy firm, explained how she had initially believed in meritocracy alone. When she was working towards management level, she expected to be rewarded by grateful onlookers for her Herculean efforts. She quickly realised that her approach was misguided.
She smiled: “I tried to work harder than anybody else, which in hindsight was a mistake. I worked longer hours than anyone else before I realised it was not accomplishing anything I wanted – just more work. Instead I became better skilled at realising which projects were worth the hard work – and which were not.”
Make it work
l Look to the evidence – is your client being recognised by senior managers?
l Do they feel they are making progress in their career or has it been a long time since their last promotion?
Fatal flaws
l †Ignoring their sense of integrity – this is often a very positive and firm core belief for them and has been instrumental in getting them this far. n
1 Stephen J McNamee and Robert K Miller, The Meritocracy Myth, Rowman & Littlefield, 2009.
Suzanne Doyle-Morris PhD is an executive coach specialising in developing female leaders. She is the author of Beyond the Boys’ Club: Strategies for Achieving Career Success as a Woman Working in a Male Dominated Field, Wit and Wisdom Press, 2009.
Coaching at Work, Volume 5, Issue 4