Toxic Geniuses by Szymon Janiak

The post was originally published in Polish on Szymon’s LinkedIn profile. Szymon kindly agreed to republish what we think is of great value to our readers.

The CEO hired a brilliant employee. They were incredibly effective, absorbed knowledge several times better than anybody else, and had enormous potential. Their appointment was one of the best HR decisions ever.

From the very beginning, the situation was extraordinary. It is rare for someone to make such an amazing impression at a job interview. Eloquent, brilliant, knowing exactly what and when to say to achieve their goal. The decision to hire was almost immediate. They definitely had that something!

The first impressions during work were similar. Everything on time, tasks completed at 110%, initiative, willingness to innovate, streamlining procedures. CEO material in a few years’ perspective. However, there was a drawback…

Conflicts with other employees began to arise extremely often. On various levels there were intrigues, problems, grievances – things that have hardly occurred in a close-knit team before. Every now and then someone was dissatisfied. The spiral was winding up.

The situation became so tense that it began to affect a large portion of the company, but this brilliant employee had absolutely no problem with it. They focused on themselves and their own development, and by delivering 200% of the norm and perfectly dealing with their superiors, they felt absolutely safe. They saw a bright future for themselves – they didn’t care about the rest at all.

One day, they received an invitation to an interview with the Board. They were convinced that a significant promotion was to be offered. They came out of it as if struck by lightning and were never seen in the office again. They were dismissed from work and from providing work until the end of the notice period. The CEO finally realized what they had led to and what mistake they had made.

Toxic geniuses can destroy even the most close-knit teams. 

Any given professional unit that delivers a few hundred percent of the norm does not matter if everyone else loses efficiency. A company is a team in which many people play important roles. Even the best person will not pull everything alone. Properly selected and loyal people can do miracles together – even if they are less outstanding on their own.

The comment expressed quite some doubt:

There are other possible interpretations of this story.’Toxic’ top-performers will have high standards, and they will pull the organization in this direction. This might not please the rest – well, because it’s a change, because you have to work on it. And the question of who should be fired is not so simple. 

Usually, organizations favor the decisions described above. Because any move is better than none.

– Sebastian Opałczyński, Blogger, Senior Technical Consultant at UrbanDataLab AG

Hiring such people in a company is great, firing is even cooler, but the most difficult thing is managing such eagles and finding the right place for them.

– Dr Andrzej Szeworski, ex-Deputy CEO at Pekao Financial Services

Hmm… Or is it the organization that is not mature enough to manage talent? Or this talented employee directly threatened the manager’s position and it was necessary to get rid of the competition? Or maybe the employee demanded a lot from themselves as well as from others who settled for warm chairs and the same work they had been doing for years?

How many times did this wonderful, successful employee receive feedback from their manager that something was wrong with their communication with the rest of the team? Or maybe no one told them because they brought golden eggs for the company? After all, they were going for another praise… Maybe it is the incapable employee who should be fired?

Honestly, such behavior only reveals the immaturity of the organization. It is a kind of mutual adoration society, leveling everyone to a row without individualization. This is the best way to waste the potential of valuable people and the possible development of the entire company. This shows to others – do not lean out. It’s a bit of a relic of the socialist times. 

A well-coordinated team is not a group of people doing and thinking the same, patting each other on the back. A well-coordinated team is one where the skills and capabilities of some are complemented by others.

– Iwona Zastawna, ex-Marketing Manager at Fellowes Polska

The question is whether their behavior was toxic or others stopped feeling safe because of the raised standards? These are completely different reasons for the same symptoms. If the latter  is the case, then firing this worker was stupid and the principle that ‘a company is a team’ doesn’t stand up.

– Piotr Golczyk, Co-Founder at empatyzer

The question is – how much of this 200% was this worker’s actual work and how much was an audacious or silent theft of the work of their co-workers, because business also knows such geniuses with brilliant speeches. However, such issues are extremely interesting, especially the genesis of conflicts – what is the flashpoint of conflict and what is really kindling that arranges intricately before the conflict breaks out.

– Monika Błokowska, Inventory Manager at Chemorozruch Sp. z o.o.

...and then this employee became the CEO of an even larger company, and everyone was happy and lived happily ever after.

– Tomasz Boruc, CEO at ETIM Polska

‘If you’re the best in the room, you’re in the wrong room.’ The decision to dismiss this employee was the best thing that could have happened to this employee. The team and the company must have people with similar characteristics, ambitions, diligence, etc. Discrepancies, as in this case, depress both the team and the outlier. It doesn’t matter if it stands out or downsides.

– Jaroslaw Postawa, Owner at Dorvin.Net