Entitlement Does not Pay the Bills

March 13th, 2009

Recently I have come across this attitude in my work as an executive coach. Business leaders are hearing something like: “I should get that promotion because I have been here the longest.” Or some other such sentiment. Today is not the time for entitlement attitudes, but rather performance attitudes: “How can I bring value to the bottom line of my company?”

In the past entitlement has been part of some organizations’ cultures. Generally, The larger and more bureaucratic, the more prevalent the entitlement attitude.

However, the current economic environment may just break the hold that entitlement has on organizations that cannot afford to even keep people on board who are not contributing to the vision and mission of the organization.

The missing piece here, however, is that many people are unclear what it takes to bring their highest value to the organization – and that is the fault of the organization. Job descriptions and measurable goals are either perfunctory or not lost somewhere on a shelf.

Bottom line: all employees need a clear and shared understanding of what is expected of them and an accountability system to track results.

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