Remove the toxic elements

I was very impressed by a talk I heard last week at a Vistage event by Glen Daley. Lots of solid leadership advice with grounded applications.

But one point really resonated – what do you do with high achievers that do not live the values of the business?

You may already be forming a picture in your mind of someone you know who fits that description.

Getting things done

First thing is this - they deliver. Whether it is cost cutting, hitting the sales number, working the systems and processes, they get things done.

BUT – they do it in a way that is counter to the values espoused by the business or they behave in ways that do not reflect the values. 

Let me give you an example of what I mean by going through an example of someone I worked with. They will remain anonymous, but for the purposes of this article I will call them Sam.

Sam ran a very tight ship, always hitting the numbers, always completely in control. Sam worked long hours. Their presence was palpable, even when they weren’t actually around in person. They had absolute control. They knew more than anyone. The mantra was “You have to get up earlier than that to catch me out”. Opinionated, self-obsessed with receiving the accolades of delivering on time every time. Sam made sure that this was the Number 1 site, no matter what the metrics were.

A perfect result?

Well there is more. The other side of the achievements were unpleasant. Things like the high staff turnover, the negative comments made by customers, the lack of interaction with his peers within the business. Sam was an island. No sharing of best practice, no contributions to developing innovations unless they had total control and could work alone. These other, more damaging, aspects of Sam’s achievements were rarely discussed. Most importantly they were the opposites of the values that the company was working towards. 

Then one day a customer lodged a formal complaint about Sam’s behaviour to the MD. It was then impossible to continue to sweep away the reality of what was going on. Action was needed. Eventually the decision was taken to remove him. Within weeks the site turned a corner and became part of the team.

Remove the toxic elements

What would you have done? My own conclusion to dealing with this toxicity is to cut it out as soon as possible. Stick to the values above all else. Never, ever discard the values. It may be hard, but it is worth it.

Your experience

I am sure you have your own story to tell. Please feel free to add your comments to this posting and how you dealt with it. You may find the action of writing your own version as cathartic as I did.