Every job has some “dirty work” – the tasks that are much less enjoyable than others. If that’s not the case it just means that the job has no real diversity of tasks. One of the hardest things as a manager is that it is a lot easier to assign “dirty work” to the “team players”, those that don’t complain and just get the job done. It’s painful because it’s unjust and it feels like the incentive program is all backwards: be egotistic and you won’t be bothered, be a team player, and get more “shit” on your plate.
So I try to resist this “easy path”. But it’s hard. Really damn hard. So I do take the “easy path” from time to time because when things just need to be done, you want to minimize conflicts.
The way I make myself more comfortable when that happens is by reminding myself that this specific instance is just a play, but being a team player is a long game. Every time someone “takes one for the team”, they build trust and brand. They build it with their managers, their teammates, and even, somewhat, with themselves. Trust and brand are the most important currencies in the professional world. They should be the key decisive elements in rewarding employees, promoting them, and giving them more ownership.
I remind myself that these currencies could not be “day-traded”, they should be invested in, over a long time. They can only be earned by playing a long game.
So it’s ok to let the great team players play the long game from time to time. You only need to make sure that your organization put a high value on these currencies, as it should.
-Nivge