rotten apples and less talented teammates
This is not a reflection of my team at Accoil. It’s an observation of another team who we can call Mavericks.
The Mavericks (Mavs) are a good team. They’re talented individuals mostly who often gel and make magic happen. When things are going well, sales are stacking up, and the mood is high, the Mavs are a force.
When things get rough, though, and the sales gong is quiet for too long, the team starts to crack. I noticed that the root of the bad mood is usually one of two people:
The Rotten Apple — the one that spoils the bunch
The Less Talented Teammate — nobody is perfect and some people just shouldn’t have key roles
The Mavs’ Rotten Apple seems to wait for things to complain about. The moment a KPI turns down, blame starts to fly. Comments like “Why can’t you just make this little change?! It’s so obvious!” are pointed at everyone but Rotten.
In slow times, the Less Talented Teammate goes from being a fun guy to have around (he’s fun, enthusiastic, eager) to the perceived cause for the dip. And sometimes he is the cause of the dip. Then Rotten and the rest of the teammates pile on the blame. Less Talented’s position demands skill and talent above his God-given gifts. Harsh, for sure. Nobody’s perfect. Sometimes it’s just true that someone has less talent.
When these two people are allowed to pull down an entire team, the team suffers together. Teams should ride the peaks and valleys together, but teams need coaches and leaders to step in at those low moments to pull them back to the top.
Neither Rotten of Less Talented are company execs or leadership. What I don’t understand is how unwilling the company leaders are to do anything about this negative influence.
The leaders have brought this up with me, so I’m not even pushing some outsider opinion. When I question why they’re still on the team, I hear reasons like “When he’s on, he’s on” and “He’s friends with Dave-o… and I don’t want to upset Dave-o.”
I’m grateful to not have any Rottens or Less Talented Teammates. It’s our job as company leaders to make sure we don’t have them on the team and if we find ourselves with one of them, we do something about it. For the good of the team and the good of the company.
Peter
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