Favoritism

What It Looks Like: Understanding Favoritism in Leadership

A leadership or management bias where certain individuals receive preferential treatment based on personal relationships rather than merit or performance. This can erode trust, hinder team cohesion, and lead to disengagement.

Michael, a senior manager, unintentionally shows favoritism toward certain team members, offering them more opportunities or praise while overlooking others. This behavior creates division within the team, leading to resentment and a lack of collaboration. Some team members feel undervalued and disengaged, which affects overall team morale and performance.

What if overcoming favoritism isn’t just about treating everyone equally, but about how you foster an inclusive and fair environment where every team member feels valued and empowered?

After Implementing Behavioral Insights: Fostering Fairness and Inclusion

Michael works on being more mindful of how he allocates opportunities, feedback, and recognition. He actively ensures that all team members are given equal chances to contribute and develop. In his next leadership initiative, Michael actively recognizes and appreciates the diverse strengths of his team, ensuring that everyone feels equally valued and motivated.

Business Impact: Positive Outcomes of Addressing Favoritism

Increased team cohesion and trust through fair treatment.
Stronger team performance and collaboration as all members feel included.
Enhanced leadership credibility by promoting fairness and inclusion.

Characteristics: Key Indicators of Favoritism

Assigning better projects, promotions, or perks to select individuals without clear justification.
Overlooking mistakes or poor performance of favored employees.
Providing more access, visibility, or mentorship to a specific subset of the team.
Ignoring or downplaying concerns about preferential treatment raised by others.
Consistently soliciting input from a select few while excluding others.

Contributing Factors (Causes): Why Favoritism Happens

Personal biases—unconscious preference for individuals with similar backgrounds, values, or personalities.
Comfort zones—leaders gravitating toward those they trust or have history with.
Organizational politics—rewarding loyalty over performance.
Perceived competence—assuming certain individuals are inherently more capable.
Lack of structured decision-making—informal processes enabling favoritism.

Impact on Different Levels: Individual, Team, and Organization

Individual: Decreased motivation, frustration, and sense of injustice.
Team: Low morale, division, and resentment toward leadership or favored employees.
Organization: Reduced innovation, loss of talent, and a culture of inequity.

Underlying Need: Addressing the Root Causes of Favoritism

Trust & familiarity: Leaders feeling safer relying on known individuals.
Control: Leaders seeking comfort in a predictable inner circle.
Validation: Leaders unconsciously reinforcing their biases through like-minded individuals.

Triggers: Situations That Encourage Favoritism

Lack of clear performance metrics leading to subjective decisions.
Organizational hierarchies that discourage questioning leadership decisions.
High-pressure situations where leaders fall back on familiar individuals.

Remedy & Best Practices: Promoting Fairness in Leadership

Implement clear performance evaluation criteria to ensure equitable opportunities.
Encourage diverse mentorship and sponsorship programs.
Create transparency in decision-making (e.g., explaining promotions and project assignments).
Develop leadership awareness training on unconscious bias.
Foster inclusive leadership practices to ensure all voices are heard.

Business Outcomes (KPIs): Measuring the Benefits of Addressing Favoritism