Green lights and double standards

He didn't run the equipment.

He didn't solve the daily problems.

He didn't build trust with the crew.

His only job? Keep the damn lights green. And even that was too much.

In this industry, it’s far too common: the wrong people in leadership roles, not because they’ve earned it, but because they know someone. We reward connections over competency, confidence over character, and it shows up in the results that never make it onto a dashboard.

"He's a good guy" was all it took.

There was this one site I’ll never forget. The manager had never operated equipment, never managed compliance, and had no real field experience, but he was close to someone on the senior leadership team. That’s all it took.

He didn’t understand the job, so he stayed in the office. He scheduled meetings instead of building relationships. He glanced at compliance reports but didn’t grasp the consequences of ignoring them. The team carried him. They handled the problems, kept the site running, and quietly covered for his inexperience.

And yet, every quarter, the green lights on the dashboard told a different story. One that made him look successful. But green lights can lie. Because the truth is, he wasn’t enough, and the team knew it.

"She did what she had to do" Now here’s the contrast.

She did trade something for something, that’s the truth. That’s how the door opened. Not because she wasn’t qualified, but because being qualified as a woman in this industry often isn’t enough. So, she made a choice. One that a lot of women have had to make in a system that doesn’t reward merit without conditions. But getting in was only the beginning.

From that point on, she had to prove herself every damn day. While he coasted, she climbed. She outworked the doubt, trained the ones who judged her, solved the problems no one wanted to touch, and earned respect in the field, one shift at a time.

Say what you want about how she got in the room. But she built it once she was there.

He got a free pass. She got a target on her back.

And here’s the double standard that no one wants to talk about.

When a man gets promoted through a connection, no one questions it. He’s assumed to be capable. He gets time to adjust, space to fail, and second chances without asking. If he messes up, they say he’s “still learning.” If he disappears from the field, they say he’s “focused on strategy.” If he acts arrogant, they call it confidence.

The worse the behavior, the more they explain it away.

But for her? The microscope never leaves. The judgment is immediate. Her mistakes are remembered, her wins are minimized, and her authority is constantly tested. She isn’t just expected to be competent, she has to be exceptional, every day, just to be treated as enough.

He’s rewarded for potential. She’s punished for imperfection.

The industry doesn't have a talent problem; it has a pattern problem.

We keep promoting people who look the part, not those who’ve done the work. We trust titles instead of listening to the teams. We act like green lights are proof of leadership when really, they’re often just a reflection of the people doing the real work in the field.

Middle management isn’t where leadership should end, it’s where it should begin. But only if we stop protecting incompetence and start demanding accountability. Only if we stop punishing people who earned it differently. Only if we rebuild the culture around what actually matters: knowledge, humility, people, and impact.

Because green lights weren’t enough.

Because he wasn’t.

But she was. And it’s time we started recognizing the difference.

So, to the ones out there doing the real work, the one's overlooked, second-guessed, passed over, or quietly holding it all together while someone else takes the credit, I see you.

I've been you.

I know what it's like to carry the weight while someone else just keeps the lights green. I know what it's like to prove yourself twice as hard for half the recognition. And I know what it feels like to finally earn your place and still have to fight to keep it.

You deserve better leadership. You deserve to be heard. You deserve someone in your corner.

I see you, and I got you.