Talent On-the-Bubble: Addressing Human Behavior at Work
Monday March 12, 2007
One of the great lessons from Talent IQ is that the performance of talent gone awry is very seriously under-addressed in organizational life. Called “Talent On-the-Bubble,” a pattern of human behavior was identified that can take any organization and its leadership team down if left untended.
Talent On-the-Bubble can make a mockery of organizational values, sap creative energy and drive highly talented top performers out. To the extent that positive energies from high achievers create a magnet of hope and achievement, talent on-the-bubble behavior constitutes an anchor of negativism, irresponsibility and contempt.
Comments
This is a most timely article. I’m consulting to a client who has a relatively senior middle-manager who’s manifesting this bubble behaviour. He was most disruptive in training I conducted recently and his manager has asked for my advice - I suggested that they act quickly and decisively - firstly through counselling (adopting a drug-dependency intervention approach), and secondly, if that doesn’t work, by showing him the door. It doesn’t matter how good he is at his job or how scarce his skills are - he’s taking down a number of high potential but still very impressional young men with him, if we let him. I’m referring the client to this article immediately.
I thinks this article is a lot of HR Psychobabble.
I actually agree with you about the HR speak. I hope you don’t let it get in the way of the fifteen very useful descriptions of dysfunctional workplace behavior to address immediately. Also, I believe this author recommends the absolutely correct approach to dealing with the behavior of these, to put it mildly, difficult people.