Fairness in leadership is everyone gets what they need... NOT everyone gets the same.
It's inevitable. If you're in a position of leadership, sooner or later you absolutely will be accused of being unfair. Whether or not someone actually tells you directly, you can rest assured that people some will think it. But not to worry. It doesn't necessarily mean your a bad leader... as long as you know what you're doing, and why you're doing it.
From the time we're knee-high to a grasshopper, we're taught the virtues of fairness. Being fair helps us all get along, it prevents hurt feelings, and generally makes the world a better place. Fairness after all, is one of the key components of a civilized society. But what does the concept of "fair" really mean? In most cases the idea of what is fair seems pretty straightforward right? Well, it is... as long as you're working off the correct definition.
When we brought cupcakes into our kindergarten class to celebrate our birthday, we made sure to bring enough so everyone would get one. Why? Because it would be unfair for a any of our classmates not to get one. It would also be unfair for some students to get two while others got none, so we made sure to hand them out evenly. Simple right? Given this, it's no wonder that we quickly come to understand fairness as everyone gets the same. It's also no surprise that when someone gets into a position of leadership, they tend to instinctively apply what they think they know about fairness to their approach to leadership. The surprise comes, when their well-intentioned efforts to be a "fair" boss quickly goes off the rails, and they are left wondering what went wrong.
To figure out what to do, let's look a little more closely at the cupcake example. But this time, let's say one of the classmates is deathly allergic to eggs. Would it be "fair" then to still give this youngster a cupcake, even though it will require an epi-pen chaser? Of course not! So should we just exclude him from the party for his own good? That doesn't sound very to fair to me. So the obvious answer is to give him an alternative. Maybe he gets an egg-free donut instead. Wait... now not everyone is not getting the same, and what if some of the other kids would prefer a donut themselves? Replace the cupcakes in this example with work assignments, schedules, you name it, and you can see how easily this can turn on even the best leaders. So what do you do?
As a leader, it is your job to give direction, guidance, and support to those you work with. It is also your job to set your people up for success. This means recognizing the strengths and weaknesses of each individual, and making needed adjustments along the way to ensure everyone has the best chance to do a job he or she can be proud of. So how do you do this without seeming to be "unfair"? The answer... Communication.
For me, being up-front about how I define fairness is preventative medicine. I say simply "Fair is everyone gets what they need, not everybody gets the same". People who have worked with me, know I say this often. I'm up-front about the fact that I'm going to personalize my approach to each individual based on what I know and believe about them and their strengths. I also ensure that they too will get a personalized approach, and I invite them to let me know if they think I'm getting it wrong. But the one thing I do recommend dolling out equally is support. Because as long as the people you lead have faith that their best interest is your priority, you will give them the freedom to trust that being treated differently is actually the most fair approach of all.
