Every company has at least a handful of ‘troublesome talent’. They are the best and brightest talent in your entire organisation. Blessed with top skills, creativity and passion, they always come up with constructive ideas, innovative arguments and clever insight. Being ambitious and determined, they tend to meet targets and achieve goals easily. In fact, they are the ones who bring in maximum customers, profits and ultimately success.
Yet by refusing to blindly toe the line, they also spell trouble in capital letters. Their way of working can never fit in with the established norms as they are prone to challenge the status quo and question authority at the slightest provocation. They constantly buck trends and never do the expected nor do they hesitate to ask ‘why’ for anything and everything.
And it is this blunt, aggressive style that rubs both managers and colleagues the wrong way. So much so that by coming across as brash, indifferent and even bullying, they end up infuriating co-workers, lowering staff morale and even causing people to leave the organisation.
Those who said that ‘Talent and trouble always goes hand in hand’ couldn’t have been more right!
Such troublesome talent has been rightly labelled ‘mavericks’ as they are hugely talented but quite difficult to manage. By doing things their way, they upset company values, create havoc and exasperate managers no end.
Problems reach such a head that ultimately the maverick is either sacked or head for the door. Either way, the organisation is losing its top talent.
Taming them: The mavericks may create problems, but it’s obvious that an organisation cannot afford to lose them either. After all, they are the ones who over-achieve, over-deliver and even keep customers happy.
As Judith Germain, founder of ‘Dynamic Transitions’ that provides strategic mentoring, coaching and training programmes especially for maverick individuals explains, “They tend to make up as much as 20 per cent of your talent pool, but they also cause 80 per cent of your problems. Again, they are even bringing in about 80 per cent of your profit.”
What managers have to realise is that they cannot treat these ‘unconventional’ individuals like other employees. As they bring new challenges, they need to be led in a different way than the rest of the workforce.
As a manager, you have to learn to accept that such people have some unique traits and understand their true nature. They can be fiercely independent, confrontational, wilful, impulsive, restless and quite impatient.
They have an inherent dislike for rules and abhor structure. Very often, they are singularly focused on the task at hand, sometimes to the exclusion of all else. Moreover, they will do what they want to do, when they want to do it.
This can make them appear uncompromising, indifferent and even irresponsible, yet this eccentric approach itself is the secret to their success.
You should also attempt to understand what drives them and what are their needs and motivators. They crave to be recognised for their talent and get immensely frustrated when their shrewd insights are not even considered. Also, realise that they tend to break rules, not out of spite but because the rules don’t work. Only such a sensitive approach can draw out their positive aspects and help you exploit their vision, drive and strength of purpose.
Therefore, what you need is flexibility – a willingness to change and even bend the rules on occasion. This will make you open-minded to their radical ideas, opposing assertions and innovative solutions. As a strategic coach advises, “To fully embrace these mavericks, companies will have to be brave to be different, flexible in their approach to management and be prepared for some pain, to achieve the pleasure of better performance.”
Moreover, remember that such talented individuals just want to be left to do what they want. So, do not try to control them or force them to conform. Providing complete autonomy will work like a charm. Just ensure that you establish agreement on the direction and end results. This will also align their needs and wants with the business objectives for a successful outcome.
Again, mavericks are easily bored and disengaged once they achieve their gaols. The key is to constantly engage them with new challenges that will ignite their passion. Another issue is that mavericks are often quite oblivious to the disruptive effect they have on others.
You can attempt to change their behaviour by making them aware of the cost and consequences of their actions.
This will polish out their rough edges and improve their interaction with others.In short, realise that your top talent is troublesome only because they are not being led properly.
Special leadership skills can help an organisation harness the skills of its mavericks, making them flourish with impressive performance, competitor advantage and less disruptions too!
PAYAL CHANANIA
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