When a team achieves something, be it big or small, it is nice to get recognition for it. However, this is not always the case. There are many situations in which someone else, often some manager, gets all the credits. I like to refer to this situation as the 40% of glory rule.
40% of Glory rule:
Every management layer takes 40% of all glory points.
So when there are 200 glory points, a direct manager takes 80 and the team the remaining 120. This might not be so bad, since a good manager created conditions in which the team is able to perform well.
Problems arise when there are multiple layers of management. In the case of 2 managers, the first one will take 80 points. The second one takes 48, which means that the team has only 72 out of 200 points left. It becomes clear that flat hierarchies are better.
Now there is actually a second rule:
20% of Glory rule:
Every other interfering manager takes 20% of all glory points.
Sometimes one encounters people who seem to thrive on the success of others. Another person (mostly some manager or at least someone higher up in the organizational charts) grabs credit for a certain project, where he or she had not really a key role. These people seem to be able to grab a lot of credits for successes.
When we look at the 200 points example, an interfering manager takes another 40 points from the team, leaving them with only 80 points left (their own manager already took 80). This is less then half of the credits.
The situation of two line managers and one interfering manager looks very bleak for the team, as there will be little of the glory left, only the complaints will be given to them as leftovers.
So what can we do?
Give your glory points back to the team or persons that did the actual work. Even though I probably fail often, I try to attribute all glory points to the people who actually did the work. One of the good attributes of a servant leader is that they are willing to give their glory points to the team. However, from experience I know that giving credit where credit is due, will bring something good for you in return.
Note to the reader: Of course this is not real science, just something to make you think.
