The dark secret about employee loyalty

April 29, 2021

I’ve heard leaders say they want loyalty from their employees.  The question is – Loyalty to what?

They say loyalty to the company but they’re really saying loyalty to the leaders and their decisions.

And when it’s loyalty to people there are only two solid use cases I see for that:

1. Family – They are always family, so even if there is a mess up, loyalty is warranted.
2. Mafia – A culture of loyalty (to the point of going to prison to someone). And there is a big cost to not being loyal.

In a strong culture based company, the loyalty is to the values.

And in those companies, employees may even challenge the leaders, based on those values.

Do you want loyalty? Or do you want a great company with people smarter than you who challenge your decisions in service to the customer?