That dude is a (PITA) Pain in the A ! But I need his production!
Every leader runs into the same dilemma at some point in their journey - the high performing employee that has questionable character. These are the most persuasive sales people, smartest loan officers, most tactically sound police officers or fire personnel. When the rubber meets the road, they display a skill level that is hard to beat.
The problem lies outside of their ability to do the work. The problem comes down to issues of character. They:
● Argue with feedback from their boss or their customers.
● Never admit they are wrong.
● Grab the spotlight from others.
● Are only worried about themselves and are not team players.
● Cut corners to achieve goals.
● Refuse to mentor new team members.
● Talk about peers and leadership behind their backs.
● Are consistently late with administrative tasks.
When you look at the Six Habits of Character: Courage, Humility, Integrity, Selflessness, Duty, and Positivity, they are often lacking in multiple areas. A leader can feel like a hostage in these situations. “This dude is a (PITA) Pain in the A_ _! But, I need his production.” But is letting these behaviors continue really the wise thing for a leader to do? Yes that PITA’s skills may be strong, but is his impact on everyone else worth it? He may make the leader’s performance better in the short term, but over time, the PITA’s low character will hold back everyone.
The leader wrestling with this thought process may be also wrestling with fear and pride.
Taking action may cause the talented PITA to leave. It may cause the leader’s team performance to drop in the short term. But, the team will be glad to see him gone. Usually, someone unexpected steps up and fills that void. As leaders, it is our Duty to not settle for highly competent but low character people on our teams. We need to have the Humility to recognize that the bigger issue is not how this person helps me look good today, but how this person is hurting the team in the long run.
Is this an easy decision to make and then to execute? Rarely. There are probably hoops you will have to jump through to get the high performing PITA out of your organization. But, we must realize that doing hard things is part of being a Leader of Character. Keeping a low character PITA around just because they are competent is a short term tactic that almost always causes long term issues.
My good friend, Mike Morgan at Colorado’s Division of Fire Prevention and Control says, “We hire the heart and we train the hands.” You can always train up somebody else’s hands and be rid of the PITA’s negative influence.
Question:
● When the PITA finally leaves, isn’t everyone relieved?
● What is a well known example of a highly competent PITA?
Here is a quick assessment that will take you 5 minutes to figure it out. Nobody will ever see your results but you.
Warning: If you are not going to be honest with yourself this is a worthless assessment.
To take the assessment use the QR code above or go to www.MYCHARACTERTEST.com
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