How Organizational Leadership Can Do Meritocracy the Right Way

Meritocracy is under unprecedented scrutiny, with recent books and public debates focusing on its flaws. While meritocracy is in need of reform, if organizations are able to embrace an expansive definition of "merit" with character at the forefront, it can help with selecting great leaders. Organizations in the private sector led by great leaders will help reform the way meritocracy is practiced. 

An expansive definition of merit has a baseline of talent and effort. Other elements, collectively, describe character: integrity, humility, selfless ambition (for the success of the organization and employees), resilience and fundamental kindness, empathy, and respect for others. 

How to Prioritize Candidates for Leadership Positions

Character should be given the highest priority, because leaders who lack integrity and resilience are more likely to cut corners in times of crisis. Additionally, any leaders who lack respect for others may seek to take advantage of a position of power when dealing with subordinates. 

Leaders of questionable character will not be legitimate or effective conveyors of "tone at the top," and they will not attain the "followership" that is important to succeed. Organizations led by individuals of poor character will have a tainted reputation. 

Defining Merit for Leaders

When considering candidates for positions of leadership, the baseline definition of merit should be expanded to include two additional elements: a collegial and collaborative mindset; commitment to meritocracy. 

A humble leader who doesn't claim to know all of the answers will get more out of his or her team. Establishing a culture that encourages input to be received on a judgment-free basis optimally harnesses the talents and effort of his or her team — whether the task is executing a strategy, solving a problem, or innovating a product or service. Incidentally, that culture is also critical to risk management because it encourages team members to surface nascent issues before they blow up into something larger.

Why Meritocracy Matters

A leader who is committed to meritocracy will build a better team in the first place. A lack of commitment to meritocracy can result in selection of team members based upon loyalty to the leader, rather than merit.  

Conversely, sometimes a leader will be excessively loyal to long-standing colleagues and put them into, or retain them in, positions that are beyond their capabilities. That is bad for the organization and also for the individual. 

In the corporate world, one of the harshest criticisms that can be leveled at a leader is that they have a "weak bench". Even worse, a weak bench can be attributed to the leader's not wanting to have their possible replacement too close for comfort.  

4 Caveats to Consider When Applying the Definition of Merit

Having a robust definition of merit in selecting leaders is a good start. Those who are in a position to select leaders, or recommend individuals for leadership positions, must apply that definition with care. Here are four caveats to keep an eye on:  

1. Unconscious Bias. Be mindful that you're not evaluating someone with any internal biases at play.

2. Cognitive Bias. This may appear in the form of confirmation bias, anchoring bias, or the "halo effect". 

3. Over-crediting nonmerit considerations. Credentialism is the excessive "belief in or reliance on academic or other formal qualifications," wrote author Michael J. Sandel in his book The Tyranny of Merit: What's Become of the Common Good? Credentialism has been called "the last acceptable prejudice". Other nonmerit considerations include nepotism, simple seniority, the entreaties of a network of influential individuals, charisma, or even physical appearance. 

4. Under-crediting character. While character can be hard to assess, there are tools available that can help. For example, a collegial and collaborative mindset along with selfless ambition can all be assessed with 360-degree evaluations. You can also ask fellow employees the following question during the course of performance evaluations: Who helped you the most during the past year? 

 
Thomas A. Cole is chair emeritus of the executive committee at Sidley Austin LLP. His book Doing Meritocracy Right: How Business Leaders Can Turn an American Aspiration into Reality (and Why They Should) will be published by The University of Chicago Press in November 2025.