Leaders have to understand loyalty. It’s a major reason why organizations succeed or fail or underperform. The level of loyalty determines the level of success. It’s commonly cited by executives and employees today as a major challenge in the American workplace.
Loyalty is a two-way street. Loyalty is between a leader and a team both ways and within a team to each other.
There are 3 types of loyalty: genuine, transactional, and none.
Genuine loyalty is the member of the team who is strongly committed to the success of the mission, leader, and team. These team members truly seek to aid leaders and fellow members of the team.
They don’t look to take credit. They do sell tough decisions. They speak honestly to the boss one on one or in a team setting to provide valuable feedback. The same with the team. They avoid public negativity or drama towards the CEO or team. The genuinely loyal are highly competent in their roles since they know the success of the leader, mission, and team depends on this. The genuinely loyal want to see the mission achieved and the team succeed.
Transactional loyalty is the employee’s loyalty does not extend beyond their perceived self-interest. Every action and decision for them is constant calculation. They are not going to sell tough decisions or absorb criticism for the leader. They will take credit when things go well regardless of their role. They are deferential to the position but not actually loyal to the leader, the team, or the mission.
They are the fair-weather friend happy to smile in the sunshine. You never want them in the trench during a battle and greatness never comes without a few battles. If this person is on the team, there is no team. Their mission is “me.” This could be termed limited loyalty but in reality, loyalty is mutually exclusive. It is either genuine or it is absent.
Lastly, there is no level of loyalty. This person is there to oppose the leader and undermine the mission and team. Lacking the integrity to not apply or to leave, they become the organizational pyromaniac letting fires start and setting fires where they can. Their mission is “me” but instead of advancing themselves, it is about bringing others down. This is disloyalty and disloyalty is never passive.
The character of the leader determines the level of loyalty. If the leader is genuinely loyal, there will be a genuinely loyal team. Recruiting, hiring, and promotions will be defined by genuine loyalty.
An authentically loyal leader loves to see others win (Welch). In fact, it brings him or her more joy than anything you could give them. He or she is ambitious for the mission not themselves (Collins, 2001). The success of the team is her or his focus.
Genuinely loyal leaders and teams need each other. The team is genuinely loyal to each other. It is a joy to be in this work environment. It is a real reward to be on this team and work for this leader. People who experience this will talk most about this aspect of their work life at their retirement party.
Truly loyal leaders and teams can attain greatness. Transactional or positional loyalty can never do so. Limited loyalty means limited success because loyalty to self is no real loyalty and limited is really none.
Character determines culture. When everyone has the right character, you will have genuine loyalty and a true team culture.
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