Don’t Make This Leadership Mistake with New Team Members

I love sports. Though, like many avid sports fans, I often struggle with sportscasters. Some are great, to be sure – Vin Scully was the gold standard – but most are not. The reason why most are not great is, in part, because of a habit I like to refer to as “Narrative Dependency.”

Here’s an example of Narrative Dependency: a few weeks ago, I watched an National Football League (NFL) preseason game. In the game, there were two rookie wide receivers making their debuts.

Player A was touted as the next great receiver for the franchise. They arrived at the team with a few sponsorships already in place and cameras were fixed on this player every time they took the field. Then the broadcast crew introduced player B, another rookie wide receiver who had no major sponsorships and carried no anticipated storyline.

On two plays early in the game, both player A and player B made significant mistakes of equal importance. Neither contributed offensively during the first half. Nevertheless, as the halftime recap got underway, the broadcast narrative for player A went something like this: “I just love the way player A bounced back from that mistake. He’s a rookie, these things happen. He’ll learn from it.”

Meanwhile, for player B, the broadcast narrative was diametrically opposed. It went something like this: “I’m just not sure how long player B is going to be allowed to make those mistakes. This is the NFL, there’s very little room for error.”

Any objective observer would have noticed the discrepancy in how these players were discussed. And I can assure you both players watched the game afterwards at home. Imagine the disparity in their confidence levels based on what they heard from “experts” analyzing the game.

Coaches and fans undoubtedly get wrapped up in these silly narratives as well. But these unfounded narratives are damaging to the team and hinder the likelihood that both players might be successful in the long run.

Leaders within organizations should learn from this absurdity. They too should eliminate Narrative Dependency.

The reasoning is simple and twofold. Trust and reliability take time to develop. No matter the “hype” built up around a new recruit, it takes months if not years for them to establish an accurate reputation. Think about the NFL, imagine if Tom Brady – a sixth round draft pick with no cause for celebration – was judged purely by his early performances in preseason games as a rookie.

Instead of getting wrapped up in foolish narratives, leaders need to build confidence across the entirety of their team, especially early on in a person's career. Though tempting, a leader cannot singularly focus on somebody touted as having potential. Why clip the wings of any team member and lessen their chances to make positive contributions?

Over time, the wheat will separate from the chaff. Faces of the franchise will emerge. But you’re better off drafting from a wider pool of talented players, whose confidence has been reinforced throughout their early career development, than you are believing fictional stories.

Leaders help others write their own narratives.

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Co-authored by David Brendel and Ryan Stelzer, Think Talk Create: Building Workplaces Fit for Humans was published by the Hachette Book Group under the PublicAffairs imprint on September 21, 2021. Now available to order!