“Lust says, ‘I want it.’ Entitlement says, ‘I deserve it.’ And pride says, ‘I can handle it.'”– Pastor Craig Groeschel
Entitlement is a silent toxin that can infiltrate your business, relationships, and even a family dynamic. It shows up as a sense of “I deserve this” without putting in the necessary work, and it can erode morale, teamwork, and overall culture faster than almost anything else! In an organization, entitled employees can often believe they are owed more without taking personal responsibility. They might expect raises, promotions, or special treatment simply because of their tenure or position, not based on their contributions or efforts. This mindset is dangerous because it creates resentment among those who work hard and follow the rules.
Entrepreneurs tend to only see the good traits in people. And can be blind to the toxic traits. This can be a blessing and a curse. We tend to look for the quickest solution to a problem. And one of these “solutions” can be promoting people into a managerial role not really knowing whether or not they are up for the challenge. They are great at getting the work done, so they’d make a great manager, right? You guessed it, this happened to me. One particular manager let the title go straight to his head. Nothing I could do for him was ever enough. He’d say we need a piece of equipment, and a few months later it wasn’t big enough. I’d get us a new dump truck, and it wasn’t the right size. We’d have our company appreciation events, and nobody under his charge would show up. When he’d call me, I’d have to literally take a breath before taking the call because I’d never know what to expect. I tolerated it because of fear. I thought that without him leading a few crews, I’d have to jump back in and take over, and there was no way I could do it and still lead the organization. Finally after about a year in his role, I had enough. My other leaders all rallied behind me that he needed to be promoted to another company. It was our first “addition by subtraction” moment. I learned a very valuable lesson about entitlement that year. I made a deal with myself and our team that day that we would never accept entitled team members on our team ever again. And nobody, no matter the role, would ever put us in that position again.
Being in bondage to entitled employees is exhausting. And when others see an entitled employee getting away with that behavior, it breeds frustration. High-performing team members begin to feel undervalued, leading to disengagement and eventually decreased productivity! Entitlement also undermines the sense of unity and shared purpose in a company. It replaces any form of collaboration with an unhealthy competition and erodes the trust needed for teams to function at their best!
In a healthy culture, everyone is pushing toward a common goal and mission. Entitled employees focus more on what they can take rather than what they can contribute to the mission. This “me-first” attitude stifles any sort of positive momentum and progress, holding the team back.
Here are a few ways that you can fight back on entitlement in your culture…
1. Set Clear Expectations: This can go deeper than just your work. Whether it’s with employees, or even family, communicate what’s expected, what’s acceptable, and what your values are. Reward effort, contribution, and a positive attitude! That toxic manager I mentioned earlier, I enabled his entitled behavior. And the more I did, the worse it got.
2. Hold People Accountable: Don’t let entitled behavior slide. It stops today! Consistently enforce standards and let people experience the consequences of their actions. One good way to do this in your work is to set times of the year where you do reviews with your team members. Don’t make them random to where entitlement can pop off whenever it feels like surfacing! Set a standard and stick to it. If you have leaders on your team that are managing staff, make sure they understand the process as well.
3. Foster a Culture of Gratitude: There is something so uplifting in leadership and life being around a grateful person. But that attitude of gratitude starts with you. Encourage an environment where appreciation and recognition are earned not simply given. Entitled people rarely appreciate what they have because they feel they’re owed it. Shifting the focus to gratitude can help combat this mindset.
Have you ever had an employee tell you that if they didn’t get a raise, they were leaving? I have. And did you give it to him/her? I have. And when you give in to the threat, you’re enabling entitlement to run rampant. Don’t confuse this with giving merit pay increases by the way. That is completely different. There is a productive way to do it. This is why it’s crucial to have set times of the year where you do evaluations, and have some sort of record keeping and progress tracking to review when eval time comes around, and stick to the process. Whenever we have gone away from our process in this arena, it ALWAYS has come back to bite us. ALWAYS.
I’ll land the plane with this. Ask yourself a question; Do you feel like the world owes you something? I always say… We can teach what we know, but we reproduce what we are. Maybe you have a little entitlement in you, so those around you are just picking up on it and carrying it forward. I can assure you this, nothing in this earthly life is promised. It could all be taken away tomorrow. Sometimes we need to be reminded of that, and also remind our people of that. Everyday WE GET TO do what we do is a gift. Entitlement is like a weed that if left unchecked, will choke out any form of healthy culture you’ve worked hard to build. Whether it’s employees in your company, friends in your life, or even your own children, recognizing and addressing entitlement is key to maintaining a thriving and positive environment. Cultivating a mindset of gratitude, accountability, and humility is the antidote to this pervasive issue, allowing you to protect the morale and integrity of your company and relationships. It stops today!