Fair Is Not Always Fair

I was sitting in a meeting with one of my clients as he was going through the details of a merger between his company and another big company. The merger was going to make big news once it happened. But for now we were still in the negotiation phase and it was rapidly coming to a close.

At the end of a long week of meetings everyone was looking forward to getting this merger done. As the meeting was coming to a close on the last day, the CEO of the other company got up and addressed my client:

“The way this merger is going to work,” he said, “is if you do your part, then I will do my part. But if you don’t do your part—if you think you will screw with me—take note that I will screw with you even more.” He ended his passionate mini-speech by saying, “Treat me fairly and I will treat you fairly.”

I looked at my client to see what he thought, but his face registered no emotion.

Everyone then left the room. I looked at my client and said, “This merger cannot go through.”

He said, “I know.”

You might be thinking the passionate speech was fair, that as long as my client treated him fairly then all would be well but if my client would treat him unfairly all war would be on.

Sometimes fair is not fair at all.

Fair is not fair when you are cultivating a relationship. Being fair in a relationship does not always work; sometimes one person gives more than other, sometimes one person works harder than the other. And being in a relationship where the attitude is to give each just what is fair is not enough. If you are going to partner, you want to give more than what is fair. You want to give more than expected, to do what is right—not what is fair.

Successful leaders care about people and go the extra mile.

Fair is not fair when you are counting your deeds. If you are in a partnership or relationship were every deed is accounted for and tallied up, you will never get far. For companies to thrive, for leadership to work, you have to give back better than what you have been given and you have to stop counting your deeds. You have to give because you want to give and not worry about what you will get back in return.

Successful leaders give back more than they have been given.

Fair is not fair when we are being human. Human beings make mistakes. That is a part of life and it is most certainly part of business. When we make mistakes we want to know that someone will be there to help us, not get back at us or punish us. If we do something wrong or if we mess up we want someone in our lives to teach us, support us, guide us, not punish us. We want grace and mercy. And the same is true if it’s the other way around. When someone in your life makes a mistake, you don’t want to go for eye-for-an-eye. You want to be able to understand and forgive. It is not about getting even, but about learning from each other.

Successful leaders are patient in the face of mistakes—their own and other people’s—and try to learn from them.

Fair is not fair in dependency. If you have a relationship or partnership grounded in dependency, you have a relationship that will fail. If you will be good to me only if you believe I am being good to you, and you are willing to punish me any time you think I’ve treated you badly, then our relationship is neither good nor fair.

Successful leaders see leadership as a way of growing and learning, and not taking and punishing.

Being fair is good but it does not always work—not in business, not in partnerships, and not in relationships. What does work is giving the best of what you have to offer and investing your time and energy in supportive partnerships that help you grow and develop even more.

LEAD FROM WITHIN: Fair is not always fair. Sometimes it’s about doing what is right.

Lolly Daskal is the president and Founder of Lead From Within a consulting firm specializing in executive leadership coaching and customized leadership programs. Connect with Lolly Daskal

Additional Reading:

• At The Risk Of Being Changed


• The Power Of Parting: 7 Things You Need To Stop Doing 


• Lead From Where You Are And With All That You 


• The Wisdom Of Whole Hearted Leading

Photo Credit: Getty Images

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