Punching Above Your Weight

by | Sep 29, 2021

If you grew up in New York in the 1960s, you got to watch the Mets, the Jets and the Knicks all win championships against heavily favored opponents in 1969-70. I don’t know if a city has ever enjoyed three major upsets all in the same year the way New York did. How did it happen? What does this have to do with Human Capital? Well – that is simple – people punched above their weight!

Let’s take the concept and consider both the impact and how we make it happen. In businesses that I have managed, it has always been easy to outperform. I get junior staff to produce like mid-career employees and mid-career employees to produce like seniors. When this happens, you can easily pay these people very well, and still have a high margin business. If it sounds too easy as described, it truly is surprisingly easy. So, how do you make it happen?

The key factors in getting employees to punch above their weight are:

  • Identification
  • Empowerment
  • Feedback
  • Pay for Performance

The identification part may be the hardest. Look for the people in your organization who are hungry to do more. They may not come from top universities (though they may). They may not look like you or appreciate your sports analogies (like mine). Focus less on background and look for someone hungry. You find the commonality in your shared passion for high quality work, for going the extra mile for the client, for winning. If you put this energy out as a manager, they will often find you!

The empowerment part is the most meaningful to me. Put people in a position to succeed. Give them air cover if they need it. Give them room to fail once in a while, with the knowledge that failing is a learning experience and you can’t go too far too fast without tolerating this once in a while. Encourage them to do what they don’t think they are ready for. Encourage juniors to own projects, to present at a meeting, to take the lead on a smaller project, etc. Often the biggest obstacle to their success is unfounded self-doubt. Help them push through it. Give them something to own!

Next, give plenty of feedback. Those really hungry to punch above their weight want plenty of it, and are not too sensitive to hear how they can do better. Foster an environment where feedback is a routine matter, after a pitch or a meeting or a deliverable. When someone knows you are really in their corner, pushing them forward, they won’t need to feel defensive. Some of my best mentees have interrupted me when praising them and said, “get to the part about how I can do better”.

Finally, run a meritocracy. Don’t tell a high performer they have to wait 3 years to get promoted because of company policy. Get the policy changed. Promote based on performance, not tenure. Pay based on performance, not tenure. Let people see how they can get outsized rewards for doing more, grow their careers more quickly, have more satisfying work, and you won’t have to worry about retention. There are few things as fun as winning with an unlikely team of relatively inexperienced people. Maybe like beating the Colts, Orioles and Lakers in the same season?