Leadership Isn’t a Cookie-Cutter Process
If you manage multiple people, here’s one truth you can’t afford to ignore: leadership isn’t a one-size-fits-all role. Every person on your team is an individual…with unique strengths, weaknesses, ambitions, wants, and desires. And if you truly want to lead effectively, you can’t treat them all exactly the same.
In one of our earlier blogs, we discussed the difference between “equal” and “fair” (you can find that article here). Equal means identical treatment. Fair means giving each person what they need to succeed. Those are very different leadership approaches – and only one actually works in the real world.
When you align company goals with each person’s individual goals, and calibrate your expectations and coaching to their unique strengths and weaknesses, you create an environment where people thrive. You’re not lowering the bar for anyone; you’re helping every team member hit the bar in the way that works best for them.
The best leaders understand this isn’t “special treatment.” It’s effective treatment. The stronger your ability to adapt your style to the person in front of you, the stronger your team will be. And when individuals grow, so does your company.
Three Real-World Examples:
- The Code-Savvy Designer vs. the Site-Smart Field Engineer
A project manager had two engineers with strong but very different strengths. One excelled in CAD, code compliance, and drafting flawless design plans. The other thrived in the field, coordinating subcontractors, catching constructability issues early, and adapting to site surprises. The manager tailored their responsibilities: the designer took the lead on plan sets and permitting, while the field-savvy engineer handled construction coordination and field reports. Instead of forcing both to do everything equally, he let them specialize and the project finished ahead of schedule with fewer issues.
- The Future PM vs. the Technical Specialist
On a bridge rehab project, one junior engineer asked for more leadership responsibilities, aiming to become a project manager within a few years. Another peer preferred staying hands-on with technical design and inspections. Their supervisor gave the aspiring PM ownership of client communications and internal schedules, while assigning the technical specialist the most complex load rating tasks. Both grew in their own direction without stepping on each other’s lanes.
- The Underperformer Who Excelled at Stakeholder Coordination
A transportation team had an engineer who struggled with design deadlines but had an exceptional ability to handle municipal reviews and community engagement. Rather than cycling the employee through PIPs, the team lead shifted her focus toward public outreach, utility coordination, and permitting processes, tasks often overlooked but critical to moving projects forward. She not only found her niche -she became the go-to for smoothing out red tape across multiple jobs.
Great leaders don’t ask, “How can I make everyone the same?” They ask, “How can I make everyone the best version of themselves?”
