Are High-Performers Holding Your Company Hostage?

You may have inherited, hired, or promoted people who you’ve recognized and rewarded for exceptional production and output—only to hear rumblings that they’re getting those results in ways that damage your company’s reputation, aggravating fellow team members and undermining everything that you’re trying to accomplish for the long term. These are usually me-first versus we-first people who put their interests before the Core Values of the organization.

In the meantime, they continue to produce results, but they get those results in ways that go against the company culture. In other words, while they are highly productive short-term, they’re killing your company long-term.

Don’t Let Your People Hold Your Company Hostage

When you ignore this issue, you’re telling your organization that the Core Values you espouse don’t matter when compared to results. In describing these people, one boss stated, “Wrong people in the right seats are what we call ‘productive jerks.’ They’re arrogant and painful to be around.”

Don’t let these people hold you hostage. Your reputation with your people and your customers is at stake. Here’s an example:

You hired an employee for his technical knowledge to engineer a product that’s due to launch in 18 months. He lords his knowledge over people and refuses to share his expertise with others. His massive ego and arrogance make him difficult to work with, but you’ve avoided rocking the boat until after the new product reaches the market. Meanwhile, he’s telling everyone that he should be running your department.

Testing Your Core Values

This situation presents a “moment of truth” for your Core Values. “Wrong People” are often blind to behaviors that undermine the culture. Or, they rationalize cynically that getting results is all that matters. You can imagine the damage they’re doing to your organization, especially if you’ve rewarded them for outstanding performance. You must act quickly!

If you’ve applied everything that we teach in the book How to be a Great Boss, you’ll rarely have to deal with this situation. But, when all else fails you must apply the The 3-Strike Rule. 

Learn how by ordering How to Be a Great Boss. You can download the first chapter for free.

Next Steps

• Download this revealing infographic on the leadership and management practices of a great boss
• Discover how to be a great boss—download a free chapter of How to Be a Great Boss