When Top Talents Holds Leadership Hostage
This article first appeared on HR Management App.
Every organization has talent stars. The ones who shine. The ones who consistently get wins for the business. The charismatic, in-crowd types.
We all know them. We may secretly envy them. Maybe even some of us are them.
But where do they fit in today’s more enlightened business environment?
To begin with, most leaders would never admit to favoring their rock stars – because that just isn’t politically correct. Yet, secretly, they do.
A healthy working environment for teams (in fact for any group of individuals) is for everyone to be treated equally. When a culture of inclusivity is fostered, individuals work more effectively. When no one person is bigger than the collective culture – and all are valued equally – success is an inevitable outcome.
When individuals and/or teams feel they have a right to certain privileges, resentment creeps in. When individuals have a talent that the business needs, they can easily hold colleagues and leadership to ransom to gain favors. Again, if leadership allows this sort on behavior, this leads to toxic environment.
One of the most effective keys to ensuring that privilege/entitlement doesn’t form roots in organizations is to have a healthy culture that begins at the top. An executive team that is focused on the business, and not on their own salary packages, sends healthy messages to people throughout the organization.
An executive that really works as a team, where they understand each others behaviors, where they have trust and respect for each other – that’s the fertile soil within which to build healthy working teams.
The quickest way to break down and undermine “teamness” is to constantly turn the spotlight on one or two individuals. When hiring key talent, it is important to understand how they will respond to teamwork. Those that present with a persona of entitlement will be difficult to manage and are less likely to blend with an existing team.
This is a time when reliance on resumes must be supplemented by a scientifically based natural discovery behavioral data process. One that reveals what is ticking below the surface. Such lurking characteristics are likely to appear when people are under pressure, so it is best to have this information in hand before a crisis makes it apparent. If not revealed and addressed, a spirit of entitlement damages teams.
One of the keys to creating a culture of togetherness – for the good of delivering the vision of the business – is to have zero tolerance of any behavior that surfaces which would comprise the way teams operate.
Once behaviors are uncovered, decisions can be made on how best to onboard stars and talent. If the business needs their skillset, there will be work to be done to use the personality data to integrate them into their teams.
Further, integration and, therefore, success can be achieved more effectively when the behaviors and communication styles of every member of the team – supervisor and line management – are known.
When this environment of transparency is achieved, rock stars can thrive because their skills and talents are used for the good of the team and the business, and not for their own personal gratification.
No one individual is bigger than the team, and every ego and every bit of one-upmanship is parked at the door. Only when individual behaviors are known and understood can top talent be leveraged in a way that ensures leadership is never held hostage by talent. Why not begin by understanding your own natural behaviour, try our complimentary DNA Behavior Natural Discovery here.
To learn more, please speak with one of our DNA Behavior Specialists (LiveChat), email inquiries@dnabehavior.com, or visit Business DNA
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