I've been thinking a lot about entitlement lately. Not the loud kind. The quiet kind. The kind that walks into a company, a team, or a locker room and immediately starts asking, "What do I get?" or just blindly assumes special rules and allowances.
Wrong question. Wrong approach.
The question should be, "How can I help?" The approach should be to assimilate and adapt before assuming special privilege.
Every team has a pecking order. That's not politics. That's human nature. The people who've been there have already bled a little. They've stayed late. They've fixed problems no one else wanted. They've carried the place through the bullshit when nobody was watching.
Then someone new shows up.
And before they've learned names, before they've solved one problem, before they've carried one ounce of the load...they're looking for the cake.
The title.
The office.
The flexibility.
The exceptions.
The influence.
The recognition.
Easy. No free cake.
You want respect? Earn it. You want influence? Earn it. You want people to trust you? Give them a reason. This isn't hazing. It's not "old school." It's not keeping people down. It's fairness.
The guy who's been dragging the sled for five years shouldn't have to watch someone skip the line because they interviewed well, have the right degree hanging on the wall, or special access to upper mgt and ownership
People don't usually get pissed off because someone is talented. They get pissed off when someone is rewarded before they've contributed. That's the difference.
The best leaders I know don't hand out participation trophies in the workplace. They don't confuse potential with production. They understand that culture isn't built by giving everyone the same thing. It's built by holding everyone to the same standard.
Football taught me that. Freshmen don't walk in and become captains. Hell, they shouldn't want to.
Learn the system.
Do your job.
Bust your ass.
Show your teammates they can count on you. Earn it with sweat.
One day you look around and realize nobody questions whether you belong anymore. You earned it.
Business isn't different.
The irony is the people who complain the least about earning their place usually become the ones everyone wants to follow. They don't ask for cake. They're too busy baking it for everybody else. That's leadership. Not demanding your seat at the table. Building one so solid that people start pulling up chairs beside you.