Performance vs Equality

Equality protects dignity, reduces discrimination, and creates a fair baseline for everyone.

But equality is not what drives progress.

Performance is!

Nowadays, universities and HR programs are giving so much attention to equality that it blows my mind. Entire modules, case studies, discussions — NGOs (often funded by the EU) delivering sessions — revolve almost exclusively around equality, diversity, identity, bias, fairness, and sensitivity.

…and almost nothing about:

• capability

• performance

• responsibility

• leadership

• contribution

• value creation

  
  

We are preparing a whole generation of HR leaders (and society in general) to prioritize equality over everything else — including the very skill that makes an organization survive: performance.

They mean well, but they are missing the point.

Let’s be absolutely clear:

Equality is essential. But the strongest form of equality isn’t built through endless categories and labels. It’s built through performance.

High-performance cultures judge people by:

• their competence

• their discipline

• their character

• their contribution

• their results

NOT:

• their sex

• their sexuality

• their color

• their identity group they belong to

For 8 years I was part of a high-performance organization where people were judged purely by their performance. Those who delivered the highest results were rewarded accordingly. We NEVER had issues with equality, discrimination, or bias  — because performance was the only metric that mattered.

In sports it’s the same pattern.

The NBA, one of the most diverse environments in the world, didn’t become diverse because of directives. It became diverse because performance is the only metric that matters. If you can perform, you play. Identity doesn’t get you a contract — contribution does.

Help people develop the capability to perform — and judge them by the value they create. Do this, and equality stops being a slogan — it becomes a living reality.

A growing problem today is that all the attention goes to compliance:

• policies

• procedures

• reporting

• legal frameworks

• sensitivity guidelines

All these matter — but none of them create competence. None build resilience. None make people stronger or more capable.

The big issue is that we are training individuals to rely:

• on rules instead of responsibility

• on protection instead of performance

• on categories instead of capability

And when responsibility disappears, performance disappears. And when performance disappears, the whole system collapses — no matter how “equal” it is on paper.

If you want:

• stronger teams

• better service

• higher profitability

• better wages

• real growth

• real opportunity

…it begins with performance.

A society obsessed with equality but weak in capability will not progress. A society driven by performance lets excellence (those who excel) rise on its own.

Furthermore, most people drafting and voting equality directives are not business owners or leaders responsible for performance. They are professional politicians. They design rules they have never implemented themselves — and never will. They tell others how to dance — while they’re not on the dancefloor. The disconnect is obvious to anyone who actually runs a business.

If we want real progress — in education, in HR, in organizations, in society — we must teach people to become more capable, not just more protected. They need to take responsibility and take charge of their life — because as my mentor Jim Rohn says, “Life does not respond to what you need. Life responds to what you deserve.”

Nakis Theocharides

02/12/2025

“Where focus goes, energy flows.” Tony Robbins