Do you have a brilliant jerk in your business?
If you ask any business owner what their biggest pain in the arse in their business is, you will find that ‘the staff’ is often quite high up in the list, if not at the top. Admittedly this may be slightly tongue in cheek, but it is an inevitability of growing a business, however inspiring you are as a leader. And the biggest issue within the topic of ‘staff problems’ is the ‘brilliant jerk’.
Nobody ever says I waited too long to split with a bad employee fit. In 25 years, NO ONE has ever said this to me. We all wait too long. The crazy thing? By the time you do something about a poor fit, every one of your other employees will think “what took them so long?” Michael Girdley, Twitter, Dec 2021
** Nobody ever says I waited too long to split with a bad employee fit
— Michael Girdley (@girdley) December 11, 2021
In 25 years, NO ONE has ever said this to me.
We all wait too long.
The crazy thing?
By the time you do something about a poor fit, every one of your other employees will think “what took them so long?”
A very good friend of mine, who is a senior executive of many years standing, recently said to me very recently “I’ve fired lots of people in my career and my only regret, was that I didn’t do it earlier; and that was the case in EVERY situation.”
My own ‘brilliant jerk’ in my business took the form of a Dementor (watch Harry Potter if you don’t know who they are) sucking the life out of every idea, suggestion or anything that took us out of his comfort zone. Whilst technically he was proficient, as a contributor to the business in general, he was a huge negative force.
So what is a ‘Brilliant Jerk’?
The term ‘brilliant jerk’ was allegedly coined by Netflix CEO Reed Hastings in 2009. It appeared in a presentation titled ‘Netflix Culture: Freedom & Responsibility’ where Hastings said “Brilliant jerks. Some companies tolerate them. For us, cost to effective team work is too high.”
In simple terms, a brilliant jerk is someone who is good at their individual job or role, but who has a negative effect on the rest of the team, and the business as a whole.
They might be the sales person with the top figures; they might be your most efficient operations person; they may be your best developer; they might be your most experienced member of the team….. but in the bigger team picture they bring everyone else and everything around them down. They are high on performance/skills but low on attitude. They are often only about themselves rather than the team. They may well not see, or want to see, or may even sabotage, the bigger picture.
11 behaviours that a brilliant jerk may display
You will probably now be starting see, or know, who your brilliant jerk is (being honest, you knew all along anyway….). But if you are still not sure, here is a list of some of the behaviours that help you identify your brilliant jerk:
• They are confidently wrong; they have a pressing need to be right…even when the rest of the company knows they are wrong
• They have to have the last word in every conversation (look out for ‘Columbo’ endings)
• They see issues as black or white; there’s very little grey
• They know the answer to everything
• They habitually complain about other team members or customers
• Truly believe they are the smartest person in any room
• They don’t seem to have the ability to say, “I made a mistake,” or “I’m sorry.”
• They blame others and external factors, and don’t take responsibility
• They criticize the boss
• They vehemently ignore any and all feedback for improvement
• Everything is too much of an issue, or a problem, to do
So, do you have a Brilliant Jerk? If you do, you’ll now know immediately who they are.
10 steps to solving the problem of Brilliant Jerks
OK, so you have admitted you have a brilliant jerk in your midst. How do we sort this out? Whilst your first reaction may be ‘sack him/her’, we all know that getting rid of any member of staff, for whatever reason, is an admission of failure – on both sides, as well as being a legal minefield. Better to try to solve the problem first, rather than immediately admit failure. And if this person is good at their job, how good would it be if you were to keep them, but simply improve their attitude/outlook?
So here is a 10-step process to try to correct your brilliant jerk;
- Ensure you are critiquing behaviours, rather than the person
- Take note of feedback from your team and listen to the ‘rumblings’ about their behaviours
- Consult HR specialists for guidance and advice
- Identify, document and discuss the problematic behaviour with the brilliant jerk
- Give clear direction and feedback aiming to stop the behaviours
- Work together towards a solution
- Set out behavioural expectations and targets, along with timelines
- Set out specific consequences (verbal warnings, written warnings)
- Monitor progress against expectations
- In the last resort recognise a hopeless case and then act accordingly
The above steps either solve the problem with a change in behaviours, or solve the problem in the final instance by getting rid of the person. In simple terms, firstly address the issue verbally (and yes, that will be a difficult discussion) and then, if the problem continues, in written form. At both points allow time for improvements to be made, but be clear what is expected, and by when. If no improvement is made, then issue a final warning, with termination, or an agreed departure, being the outcome for no improvement; in that scenario, it is probably best for all when you both admit to a hopeless case.
It’s tough to have what will be a difficult conversation with the brilliant jerk, but unfortunately it comes with the territory of being a Business Owner. You need to help the person see and recognise their behaviours and how it effects the big picture. You need to ensure this discussion is caring and showing that you are aiming to help the employee, but at the same time you need to be clear, direct and succinct. You have to help them see they have to move to become a contributing team player and to do this their behaviours needs to improve.
If the Brilliant Jerk doesn’t become a contributing team player, then they have to go. No ifs, no buts. If not, and their behaviours don’t improve, you risk losing your existing contributing team players already in your business, which would be an even bigger disaster.
But…. But…. But….
‘But….. I can’t afford to lose my best sales person/designer/operations guy/girl’….
When you remove the brilliant jerk from your business, trust me, it’s like releasing a pressure valve on the potential of every other employee. It’s amazing how much a brilliant jerk can hold other employees, and worse, the whole business, down.
Yes, it’s a brave decision, and yes, it’s difficult, but the respect and acknowledgment you’ll get from the rest of the team will be immense. There’s nothing more demotivational to your team for them to see poor behaviours, by anyone not just the brilliant jerk, not being addressed. The reverse is also true.
The future without your brilliant jerk
Can you see them in your mind? More importantly can you, and feel, how much better the business will be without them? You want to be the owner of a great business. If you are to do that, you have to grab this nettle, not only for your benefit, but for the benefit of all your other great employees. You need to support and inspire the team who want the help the business become great, by removing, or recalibrating, the brilliant jerk.
Whenever a someone with a bad attitude leaves a company, it lifts a huge weight off everyone and improves the performance across the whole company – especially those who worked closest with the Jerk.
The business will feel completely different with the Brilliant Jerk gone. It’s easier to have honest conversations. Employees will be happier. It’s a better work environment. Even better, you’ll see it in the financial results, customer satisfaction and, you’ll probably see it in your own self-satisfaction.
I guarantee your thought in the aftermath will be ‘jeez I wish I’d done that earlier’. I was told this when I discussed my brilliant jerk with my external advisor, and boy was he right! The day after we got rid of him, it was like a Disney fairy had lifted a witch’s spell off the company, the change was that noticeable. My immediate thought? Shit, why didn’t we do this earlier….
5 ways to avoid the situation in the first place
OK, so getting rid of a brilliant jerk is a tough, but necessary, task, but wouldn’t it be better if we didn’t have the problem in the first case? So, here’s five ways to potentially avoid having the problem in the first place;
• Hire for cultural fit
• Clearly set out model behaviours and expectations
• Ensure a strict zero tolerance of negative behaviour
• Put a ‘safe reporting’ process and culture in place
• Listen to your ‘jerk radar’ during the interview process
And here’s a great tip that I saw relating to that final point; In the interview ask the question ‘Can you tell me about a time you helped someone, ideally someone who wasn’t part of your team?‘ If the interviewee struggles to find an example, this could be a warning that they aren’t the team player you are looking for.
Many companies, like Netflix, are saying no more brilliant jerks. So should you.
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