Written by Marty Seldman, Ph.D.
The Halo Effect is a term that sounds good but when it is present on a team or in a family, there is widespread damage.
Definition:
A beneficiary of the Halo Effect receives UNDESERVED (not earned) recognition, attention or rewards and may avoid consequences for not following policies, breaking rules, or achieving poor results.
How common is the Halo Effect? My guess is that you have seen examples of it in your personal and professional life; in work groups; school teams and families. I certainly have paid the price for having this blind spot and have apologized and tried to make amends to the people I treated unfairly.
Why is the Halo Effect so costly?
If you are on a team and expecting fairness, something approaching a “meritocracy,” spotting the Halo Effect is demotivating and even disillusioning. I have also seen situations where it divides teams into subgroups. Some people fear the “favorite’s” access to and influence with power and decide to align with him or her.
The team starts wondering, “Does he or she see this?” “If they do, why don’t they do anything about it?” The leader may lose credibility while people question his or her judgement. If this leader happens to give talks about culture and values, the disconnect between “the audio and the video” stands out in neon.
The Halo Effect obviously benefits the person for a stretch of time. However, during this time they get little feedback, or coaching, and rarely develop. At some point leadership changes and they don’t fare well without this protection. Even without a leadership change I have seen their hubris grow to the point where their inappropriate behavior draws complaints or the attention of HR.
How Do People Create a Halo Effect?
tell people what they want to hear. (If you are their manager you are probably not as smart, funny or attractive as they are telling you).
How to Avoid This Leadership Blindspot
If you have someone on your team who truly excels, the extra recognition or rewards they gain may trigger some envy but mostly the team will not consider it a fairness issue. It’s a leadership problem for you when you are overestimating talent and contribution, and not seeing the negative behaviors that others are aware of (or even worse, seeing them but excusing them).
Here are Some Tips on Avoiding or Erasing the Halo Effect:
People who “manage up” in a deceptive way do give off signs and signals (“tells”).
More detail in these books: Survival of the Savvy by Rick Brandon and Marty Seldman, or A Woman’s Guide to Power, Presence and Protection by Monica Bauer, Marty Seldman, Paula Santilli and Jovita Thomas-Williams: Chapter 5: Detect to Protect).
themselves at the meeting that it was going to be hard for him to trust their feedback going forward (I’m giving you a nicer version of what he actually said).
I know this is an unpleasant aspect of team/family dynamics, but I hope this information helps us all move in the direction of fairness.