We speak of performance cultures, of metrics and meritocracies. But a silent poison is leaching into the foundation of many organizations: the systematic decoupling of reward from real contribution. When recognition can be bought, lobbied for, or theatrically staged, the entire engine of productivity seizes. What remains is not a company, but a curated set—a place where work is performed for the camera, not for the customer or the mission.

Visibility Is NOT Viability

This is the age of the strategic PhotoOp. It is the elevation of visibility over viability, of narrative over nuts-and-bolts results. The reward no longer follows the grind in the quiet lab or the solved problem on the night shift; it flows to the master of the debrief presentation, the architect of the self-congratulatory campaign. Recognition becomes a transaction, not an outcome. Accolades are acquired, not earned—purchased through political capital, sycophancy, or sheer volume and stridency of self-promotion.

The consequence is a catastrophic erosion of trust in the system itself. Employees are not fools. They are acute anthropologists of their own culture. They watch as the empty suit receives the promotion for “strategic vision” while the engineer who fixed the core flaw receives a perfunctory “thank you.” They see the elaborate award ceremony for a project that hasn’t yet shipped a working product. They learn, with devastating speed, that the game is not about doing, but about seeming.

Authority Dies When Respect is Lost

This creates a hollow echo chamber. Effort is redirected from substance to signaling. Energy is spent managing perceptions, curating stakeholder updates, and crafting the story of success rather than delivering success itself. Productivity doesn’t just dip; it mutates into a pantomime of productivity. The most capable, those who derive meaning from genuine problem-solving, become disenchanted and disengaged. They either leave or retreat into cynical compliance, their discretionary effort—the lifeblood of innovation—permanently withdrawn.

And here lies the inevitable, brutal outcome: a complete loss of respect for authority. Leadership’s legitimacy is derived from its perceived fairness and its discernment. When leaders celebrate the loudest voice instead of the keenest insight, when they reward the polished façade over the solid foundation, they abdicate moral authority. The title on the door becomes a joke, the motivational email an insult. Followership becomes transactional, grudging, and thin. Why respect a captain who hands out medals based on who shines their shoes best, while ignoring who actually navigates the storm?

Resuscitation Requires Radical Recommitment to Integrity. It Demands:

• Rewarding the “Invisible Work”: Designing metrics and recognition systems that seek out and celebrate the often-unseen critical work that sustains the organization—the debugging, the mentoring, the brutally honest feedback.

• Disempowering the Narrative Monopoly: Creating multiple, transparent channels for assessing contribution, breaking the stranglehold that self-promoters have on leadership’s line of sight.

• Leaders as Referees, Not Fans: Requiring executives to actively seek disconfirming evidence about their “stars” and to have the courage to celebrate quiet, deep competency over noisy, shallow campaigning.

A culture that trades merit for theater is not building a legacy; it is producing a highlight reel for a game it is destined to lose. The applause it chases today will be the only thing left tomorrow, echoing in an empty room where the real work used to be done. Authentic achievement is the only currency that never inflates. Pay your people for that authentic value they delivered.

About Author

Fay Niewiadomski

I awaken leaders to purposefully discern the best way forward, with such clarity, that they find within themselves the courage, wisdom, and compassion to do what they never dared to do before.

I’ve been privileged to work closely with C-level officers, presidents, ministers, global chairpersons, diplomats, board members, senior business and political leaders, and their teams to successfully navigate complex, high-stakes situations and make sound business and personal decisions resulting in profound and lasting change.

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