MAHONEY’S MOMENTS
Jim has written regular leadership-related blog posts, along with other several other leaders, for Ohio University’s Voinovich Academy. On this page, you can read his monthly blog posts, Mahoney’s Moments. These moments are aimed at a variety of topics and the content is designed for the moment and intended to cause you to reflect, perhaps consider an approach, or entertain a new idea in your life or work. Enjoy!
November 2025: Leader. Culture. Performance. Earning it Every Day.
We throw those words around as if they’re perfectly aligned — as if leadership automatically creates culture and culture automatically drives performance. In reality, the connection between the three is a lot messier.
When organizations soar, leaders are praised as visionaries. When results tank, those same leaders become villains overnight. The truth is usually somewhere in between. A friend once joked that every company should hire a “designated blame-ee” — someone whose entire role is to take the fall when performance dips and stakeholders demand action. Imagine applying for that job: Chief Scapegoat Officer. Sounds funny…until you realize it’s not far from how some organizations actually operate.
For decades, the mantra has been: reward good work and you’ll get more of it. I first experienced it as a teenage door-to-door magazine salesman in the 1960s. Sell more, earn more. Simple, immediate, motivating. I even won a trip to the World’s Fair for my performance.
Fast-forward to today, and things look very different. Many leaders — across corporate, education, and sports sectors — sign lengthy, non-performance contracts. They’re rewarded upfront, sometimes handsomely, for results that may never materialize. Think of certain football coaches who keep getting paid long after they’ve stopped coaching. We’ve moved from “earn more by doing more” to “get more just for showing up.”
Some investment firms proudly claim, “We do better when you do better.” It’s a catchy slogan — but let’s be honest, they still do pretty well when clients don’t.
So, here’s an idea: what if rewards came after the results? What if entire teams, not just a few stars or the head honcho, got rewarded only after achieving shared success? That kind of system forces everyone — from the front lines to the corner office — to bet on themselves.
Each year should start at zero. A clean slate. A fresh scoreboard.
If we measured a CEO’s performance the way we measure a baseball player’s batting average — over time, transparently, and with patience — we’d get a much clearer picture of true value. Give leaders room to build culture, hire well, and steer the ship. But don’t lock them into decade-long deals that pay regardless of performance.
Leader. Culture. Performance. They’re intertwined, imperfectly. But if we align rewards with results — and ensure everyone, including the leader, earns it — we’ll build organizations where success isn’t just celebrated…it’s deserved.