Your Leader’s “Inner-Circle”

Posted on June 01, 2011 by Ronald T. Brown, Ph.D.

There is a dynamic in organizations that may not be fair, but is very real.  In fact, it is so real there is a theory to help explain it.

“Attribution Theory” can be used to explain the cognitive process by which a manger determines the reason for effective, or ineffective, performance of a subordinate – and then what to do about that performance.

Attribution Theory states that a Manager will attribute the major cause of good or poor performance to either something internal to the subordinate (lack of effort, ability, initiative, intellect,…) or to external issues beyond the subordinate’s control (forces in the economy, competitors, weather, technology,…)

Now here is the key thought… And it regards those who are in the leader’s inner circle – and those who are not.

Attribution Theory states that managers will tend to attribute effective performance to internal causes for those within the manager’s “inner-circle,” and attribute effective performance to external causes for those in the “outer-group” (or those not in the inner-circle of the leader/manager.) ** READ THIS AGAIN IF NEEDED…

And vice versa… That a leader will tend to attribute ineffective performance to external causes for those within their inner-circle, and attribute ineffective performance to internal causes for those subordinates not in their inner-circle.

** By the way, studies show that when hired, a person has about 90-120 days to gain access into the inner-circle of their leader – and in that time, if they have not been able to do so – they will most likely be forever regulated to the outer-circle.

So a few thoughts to consider:

1) If you are a leader, you need to be careful, fair, and systematic when evaluating a subordinate’s performance – regardless of personal friendships and loyalties.
2) If you are a subordinate, the impression you make in the first 90-120 days when working for a new leader/manager will likely dictate where you stand with that leader from then on out.  Right or wrong – this dynamic is usually the case.
3) If you are a subordinate who has been working for a manager for some time – and you are not in their “inner-circle” – this is a reality you need to proactively deal with. This can be overcome, but it will not be easy.  I will leave it to you do some reading to figure that out.