When Smart People Are Bad Employees
In business, intelligence is always a critical element in any employee, because what we do is difficult and complex, and the competitors are filled with extremely smart people. However, intelligence is not the only important quality. Being effective in a company also means working hard, being reliable and being an excellent member of the team. Here are three examples of the smartest people in the company being the worst employees:
The Heretic No large organization achieves perfection. As a result, a company needs lots of smart, super-en- gaged employees who can identify its particular weaknesses and help it improve them. However, sometimes a really smart employee develops an agenda other than improving the company. Rather than identifying weaknesses so that he can fix them, he looks for faults to build his case. The smarter the employee, the more destructive this type of behavior can be. Often, it’s very difficult to turn these kinds of cases around.
The Flake: Some brilliant people can be totally unreliable. Flaky behavior often has a seriously problematic root cause. Causes range from self-destructive streaks to drug habits to moonlighting for other employers. A company is a team effort, and no matter how high an employee’s potential, you cannot get value from him unless he does his work in a manner in which he can be relied upon.
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