Hard Work Isn’t Always Enough
One of the unexpected lessons of homeownership has been learning the difference between effort and expertise.
Several years ago, we bought an older home that needed more than a little attention. I am not particularly handy, but I convinced myself that I could save money by taking on many of the repairs myself. I figured that with enough determination, a few YouTube videos, and several trips to the hardware store, I could eventually figure things out.
Recently, one of those projects involved replacing some rotted wood on our balcony and repainting it. It wasn’t a particularly large repair. A professional probably could have completed it in an hour. It took me much longer. I made mistakes, redid sections of the work, bought more materials than I needed, and learned several new skills along the way. By the time I finished, I suspect I had spent more money—and certainly more time—than if I had simply hired someone who already knew what they were doing.
The problem wasn’t that I didn’t work hard. The problem was that I lacked the experience and expertise to do the job efficiently.
As I was cleaning up my tools, I couldn’t help but think about how often that same lesson appears in organizational leadership.
Throughout my career, I have occasionally had to make difficult personnel decisions involving people who worked incredibly hard but simply were not succeeding in the roles they had been hired to perform. These were not employees who lacked commitment. They cared deeply about the organization. They put in long hours, volunteered for additional responsibilities, and genuinely wanted to succeed. No one questioned their work ethic.
What they lacked was not effort, but the particular combination of knowledge, judgment, experience, or technical skill that the position required.
In a fast-paced nonprofit theater, that distinction matters. Productions continue moving whether someone is ready or not. Deadlines don’t pause because someone is still learning. Audiences arrive on opening night regardless of whether the organization has had enough time to develop an employee’s capabilities. While everyone deserves opportunities to grow, organizations also have an obligation to fulfill their mission.
Eventually, difficult decisions had to be made.
Whenever those decisions occurred, I often heard the same question: How can you let someone go when they’re working so hard?
It’s a fair question because we rightly admire people who give their best effort. But leadership requires us to recognize that effort and performance are not the same thing.
Someone can work extraordinarily hard and still not possess the capabilities a particular role demands. Continuing to expect them to perform at a level they are not yet prepared to achieve is not necessarily compassionate. In many cases, it simply prolongs frustration—for the employee, for their colleagues, and for the organization. If it goes on for too long in a position that is critical, it can also jeopardize the entire enterprise.
I’ve come to believe these situations are rarely the fault of one person alone.
Sometimes employees overestimate their readiness for a position. Most of us have done that at some point in our careers. We believe we can learn faster than circumstances allow or assume our previous experience will translate more easily than it does.
Just as often, however, organizations make the same mistake. We see potential and convince ourselves it will develop quickly enough. We hire someone because we believe they can grow into the role rather than because they are presently equipped to succeed in it. Sometimes that works beautifully. Sometimes it doesn’t.
When it doesn’t, continuing to raise expectations without providing a realistic path to success isn’t fair to anyone involved. It isn’t fair to the employee, who experiences repeated disappointment despite giving everything they have. It isn’t fair to their colleagues, who often absorb additional work to compensate. And it isn’t fair to the organization whose mission depends upon every member of the team performing at a high level.
One of the hardest responsibilities of leadership is recognizing when someone is simply in the wrong seat. That realization should never become a judgment about their worth or potential. In fact, I’ve watched people who struggled in one organization thrive in another. I’ve seen employees flourish after moving into different roles that better matched their strengths.
The goal is not to find people who work the hardest. The goal is to find the right match between a person’s abilities and the work that needs to be done. Results are something that are hard to continue to ignore.
My balcony eventually got repaired. It just took me far longer than it would have taken someone with years of experience.
There are plenty of situations where learning by doing is exactly the right approach. Home improvement projects are one of them. Leading a complex organization usually isn’t.
Sometimes the kindest thing a leader can do—for both the individual and the organization—is acknowledge that hard work, by itself, is not always enough.