Don’t Oil the Squeaky Wheel

“The reality is that we spend far too much time as managers on rewarding the wrong thing. When you look at what’s important to you, the answer to that question resides in your calendar. Take a look at how much time you spend rewarding the things you want and punishing the things you don’t want. The reality is we often do just the opposite. Let me give you an example. The squeaky wheel in this case refers to those people who cause trouble at work. We spend a great deal of time rewarding the squeaky wheels because our time is a reward. What I am suggesting in Don’t Oil the Squeaky Wheel is that far more of your time should be spent rewarding the people that make you look good, the people that consistently exceed performance goals.”