fiercely loyal or blindly loyal

Leaders need to be loyal...loyal to their organizations, loyal to their team members, loyal to their customers, loyal to their missions, and loyal to their investors or board members.  A leader's loyalty is seen and felt by the other members of the organization and sets a tone of trust across the institution.  Or does it?

Being fiercely loyal is something each member of a team wants from their leader - to know that they are trusted; to know that they are important; to know that the leader has their back; and to know that they are a part of something bigger than themselves. Loyalty from one's leader feels good and can lead to a higher level of production from other team members.  But when does loyalty move from fierce to blind?  When are leaders blindly loyal to someone or something for which there should be no loyalty?  Or when does the leader recognize that their fierce loyalty has become blind loyalty and a change needs to be made for the good of the team and the organization as a whole?  Here are a few thoughts:

• when complaints about a team member become common and regular and the leader finds themselves defending that person's behavior, the leader should begin wondering if they are practicing blind loyalty
• when team members begin blaming others rather than looking at themselves, the leader should begin wondering if they are practicing blind loyalty
• when a team member begins to become more and more marginalized, either of their own accord or the engagement by others, the leader should begin wondering if they are practicing blind loyalty
• when a leader finds themselves becoming angry when others suggest better ways of doing things, the leader should begin wondering if they are practicing blind loyalty
• when people are hurt by the actions of others and the leader fails to address the hurt, the leader should begin wondering if they are practicing blind loyalty
• when decisions begin to be made in isolation and are defended on accord of the person's position, the leader should begin to wonder if they are practicing blind loyalty

As leaders ask themselves whether they are fiercely loyal of blindly loyal, and as they take stock of how the organization is behaving in the points noted above, they will have the chance to act on that loyalty.  Making hard decisions about personnel, policies, and practices will provide to the organization the answer to whether the leader is fiercely loyal or blindly loyal...and that can make all the difference in the world.