Favoritism Forbidden

The New York Jets' surprising playoff run appropriately highlighted new head coach Rex Ryan, who most pundits agree has brought a swagger and winning attitude to a team painfully accustomed to heartbreaking ways to lose, notwithstanding its breakthrough Super Bowl III upset back in 1969. Rex is neither (football) politically-correct or afraid of providing "bulletin-board material" for opposing teams, pronouncing that he wasn't here to kiss (three-time Super Bowl winning head coach) Bill Belichick's (Super Bowl) rings and exhibiting surprise at the start of the playoffs that his 9-7 team (which frankly only got into the playoffs due to a series of lucky breaks) wasn't tabbed as the favorites to win it all.

But interestingly, what clinched things for Ryan's hiring was the overwhelming positive response from his previous employer, the Baltimore Ravens. That in itself might be surprising, except that it wasn't just Ryan's fellow coaches and the front office that he reported into - it was everyone, including the guys in video, I.T., security, P.R. as well as the groundskeeper. The reports came in from Ravens employees that Ryan was down to earth and consistently treated everyone well regardless of their "rank" in the organization, and that integrity engendered loyalty:

From the Ravens' IT Director: "He treats me great. Always has, and even as he moved up the ladder he's never changed, he's always been the same."

From the Ravens' Director of Operations: "I hope you don't (hire) him (away from us). Players love him and go through brick walls for him. Able to keep defense together and playing at high levels, even through injuries -- next-man-up-type philosophy."

I think that's definitely a key mark of leadership and have been able to witness this firsthand. It's easy to suck up to people who you think can help your career. But how do you treat everyone else in the organization? And employees aren't blind to this phenomena - people know and word gets around quickly regarding people who treat, for example, administrative assistants as stupid sheep as opposed to valuable employees and interesting human beings who have real lives outside of work. I personally love shooting the breeze with the admins on my floor - we share stories about kids, church, furniture, etc - and they're all (by nature of their work) very good people-persons with senses of humor. I also find that belittling colleagues is stupid because (1) it wrongly assumes an over-inflated view of yourself (2) it wrongly assesses the value of people based on a grade-level of paycheck amount and (3) it makes people less willing to work hard or well for you.

From a biblical perspective, this is also reflected in James 2:1-6. The passage deals specifically with differentiated treatment based on wealth, but the principle can clearly be applied to differentiated treatment based upon organizational status, corporate hierarchy, or any other sort of sense that you'll direct good behavior or respect only to those who can further your own career. Incidentally, that's not respect at all, but rather a self-serving currency of manipulation. The sycophant who curries favor isn't providing his or her boss any sort of respect or consideration - simply selfish acts of exploitation.

There's a series coming up on CBS titled Undercover Boss, and I'm guessing that this phenomena will be explored, either by abusive managers being "outed" and by nurturing and respectful managers being rewarded. Consistently treating all people with respect is something I look for in others and something I expect from myself.