Bad Apples

11/17/2010

When I dare to be powerful—to use my strength in the service of my vision—then it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid.
Audrey Lorde, 1934-1992, Writer and Professor

"Compared with teams without bad apples, those with just one suffer a performance disadvantage of 30% to 40%."

This is the conclusion of Robert Sutton, in his article "The Boss as Human Shield," in Harvard Business Review (September 2010). He observes that, "Rotten apples sap time and energy that could be devoted to useful tasks. Their negativity is also contagious — it infects coworkers, turning them into [poor performers] just like them."

Expanding on this point Sutton notes, "... no matter how hard you work to build a great team, you will hire or be assigned some weak and destructive people." He identifies ... "three kinds of destructive characters ... withholders of effort ... [those] who express pessimism, anxiety, insecurity, and irritation ... and [those] who violate interpersonal norms of respect."

According to Sutton, a leaders job ... "is, of course, to help them learn and improve. If they don't change, however, it is best to send them packing."

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