Do You Fire a Difficult But Valuable Producer Who’s Toxic to Your Culture?

The famous HBS case study of Rob Parsons
describes a brilliantly creative producer
who alienates his peers and is culturally destructive.

As a CEO/CHRO, this presents a thorny problem:

1. You don’t want to fire them but,
2. You also can’t have them destroying the culture and driving others away.

STEP ONE usually looks like everyone digging deep and having the hard conversation with a difficult but valuable producer like Rob:
“We love you and want you to continue to succeed here, but we can’t tolerate your abrasive behavior. It’s got to stop.”

The leader nods along or debates. And a week later, nothing sticks.It seems to go in one ear and out the other. Doesn’t matter who conveys the feedback - CEO, CHRO, Board Member.

After repeated attempts, the CEO/CHRO management group understandably feels exasperated. Unable to convince their star producer to moderate their behavior, the managers begin to theorize this person is un changeable.

They might even throw out labels: jerk, bully, or even psychopathic narcissist.

While some are incurable and need to be shown the door, most can be helped through very specialized intervention.

It’s not a failure on management’s part or the CHRO — you have a full time job covering a gamut of skills.

The highly trained intervention required to help these abrasive top producers see the damage they’re causing others involves speaking to their unconscious and working with rigid defenses. This isn’t covered at business school or in ordinary course organizational development PhD programs.

You're in need of a Boss Whisperer!

If you’re feeling exasperated by your seemingly futile attempts to help a culturally disruptive top producer see their destructive interpersonal effects, don’t lose hope!

It’s not a failure on your part as manager.

Send me a DM and I’ll help you keep your star performer while helping them stop their culturally destructive behavior.

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