This week, we’ll explore the true cost of mediocrity.
In a recent conversation with a business owner, they were telling me about a mishire in their sales team. They were considering replacing this particular person with someone who was probably a little bit better, but they weren’t 100% certain. They thought it was okay because that person would probably at least break even. To me, that was such a bizarre mindset, and I think it’s because my understanding of the true cost of mediocrity is very different from what it is in their mind. They were just looking at it literally: “We pay X; they bring in Y; it’s okay.”
But if you look at it differently, the true cost of having someone mediocre in your business is that you do not have the right person in that seat. Without the right person in that seat, the real opportunity cost is the deals they would have closed if they were in a sales role, the impact they would have had on margin if they were in an operational role, the financial intelligence you would have had quicker and in the right format if they were in a financial role. The cost of mediocrity is the opportunity cost of having someone brilliant in that role, giving you what you need.
The crazy thing is that business owners are prepared to put up with mediocrity and all of the costs it really carries, instead of actually paying people to do the job properly and finding people who are capable and have the skills to deliver. Now, I’m a business owner; I get it, nobody has endless pots of cash. But if you don’t have endless pots of cash, trust me, the last thing you can afford is mediocre people in key seats in your business.
So, where are you accepting mediocrity? Stop it. Get some help. What are you going to do about it to make sure that your business grows and thrives?
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