Company performance is more heavily impacted by the quality of leadership throughout a company than it ever will be by how much "underpaid" or "overpaid" its leaders are. Whether an executive is "underpaid" or "overpaid" is in no way tied to the quality of his or her leadership skills. Paying a leader an excess amount will not make him or her a more effective leader, or improve the financial and competitive results of the organization. Additionally, in all cases where executive and employee compensation is directly tied to organizational results, "underpaid" or "overpaid" is immaterial because the pay is directly caused by the organization’s results. Concerns about excess executive pay seem to occur largely within organizations where pay is not tied directly to traceable organizational results specifically created by the executive, exclusive of the broad market.

The best leaders, those who create or enable positive results most effectively, do so without excess concern about how much they are paid. They have other things on their mind and that will become more evident as you continue reading this article. Coincidentally, we have found that they also spend more time concerned about how effectively their team is being rewarded and whether that reward system is supporting the business results that the leader envisions. That concern, specifically, is what creates reward system alignment within organizations. It is also much of what makes successful organizations effective.