Editorial
What is a brilliant jerk?
Netflix coined the term to describe someone who achieves great results but exhibits disruptive behavior. This could include politics, rudeness, ridiculing, belittling, gaslighting or undermining colleagues.
At some point in our careers, most of us will encounter a brilliant jerk. Think of that rainmaker salesperson who blows every quota out of the water but belittles the receivables team. Or the superstar engineer who writes more sophisticated code than her peers but only works on projects she enjoys and leaves the dirty work to others. Or the executive who meets financial objectives but drives significant employee turnover. Brilliant jerks deliver impressive results but leave a trail of demotivated and disheartened co-workers in their wake.
Co-founder Reed Hastings knew early on in Netflix’s journey that brilliant jerks create an environment that is not conducive to collaboration, so he created a no-tolerance policy which, to this day, is woven into the organization’s cultural fabric. “Some companies tolerate [brilliant jerks]. For us, the cost to effective teamwork is too high,” said Hastings and then-CEO Patty McCord (then CHRO) in the company’s culture deck, which would go on to be known as one of the most significant documents to come out of Silicon Valley.
The Cost of Brilliant Jerks
Some might argue brilliant jerks are a non-issue. They are brilliant after all, aren’t they? Why worry if they’re driving great results? The answer: look a little deeper and you discover the enormous costs they impose:
- Healthcare costs: Employee healthcare costs are invariably one of the largest operating expenses in most P&Ls. Work-related stress and absenteeism induced by working for or with a brilliant jerk can lead to adverse physical and mental health outcomes (Read: higher medical premiums). A study conducted by the American Institute of Stress concluded that the economic impact of stress to U.S. employers was estimated at $300 billion.
- Productivity and Engagement: Tolerating brilliant jerks for long periods builds resentment and lack of trust in management, which results in lower productivity and engagement. Employees are highly attuned to fairness and equity in the workplace, and when these are off, you start observing behaviors like quiet quitting or even actual quitting, both of which come at a substantial cost. Gallup reports that low engagement cost the global economy $8.8 trillion from 2022 to 2023.
- Reputational Damage: Workplace bullying claims lead to far worse consequences than turnover. History is littered with such claims, the most recent example being Goldman Sachs’s $1 million lawsuit filed by a former executive who is alleging a culture of bullying. Reputational damage caused by a claim of this nature often surpasses the financial damage.
- Employer Brand: Brilliant jerks are detrimental to your employer brand. I once worked with a leader who turned off top candidates because his idea of interviewing was to intimidate candidates under the guise of testing how they work under pressure. Poor candidate experience can limit access to talent pools and even erode enterprise brand value. Virgin Media estimated the cost of its bad candidate experience at $5.3 million annually.
- Leadership Effectiveness: Managers of brilliant jerks spend an inordinate amount of time managing, cleaning up after and apologizing for them. This means less time spent coaching and developing others. In short, leadership effectiveness and talent development take a hit. Harvard Business Review reports that the economic impact of avoiding a toxic employee is two times that of hiring a star performer.
- Culture: Some experts define culture as “the worst behavior an organization is willing to tolerate.” Patrick Lencioni, one of the most prolific thought leaders on organizational culture, warns, “Keeping a relatively strong performer who is not a cultural fit sends a loud and clear message to employees that the organization isn’t all that serious about what it says and believes.” Consequently, leaders undermine their culture by leaving jerks (brilliant or not) unchecked. Core values start to seem like wallpaper.
Sustained jerk-like behavior will almost certainly have a negative impact on business results. One particularly high-profile and catastrophic example is Enron. In his book Give and Take, Adam Grant discusses how one could have predicted the organization’s fate four years before its demise without ever looking at a single number. Telltale signs included CEO Kenneth Lay being self-absorbed — from using self-glorifying language and pictures in Board reports, to not attending meetings that didn’t have “important” attendees and asking several employees to pretend they were busy traders when Wall Street analysts visited Enron in 1998. Grant describes Lay’s style as “kiss up and kick down.” Brilliant jerks tend to be takers who are more focused on personal agendas and less on organizational outcomes. Simply put, brilliant jerks are bad for business.
Related Article: Can You Teach Empathy in the Workplace?
You’ve Identified a Brilliant Jerk. Now What?
As a first step, provide feedback that is respectful yet direct — radical candor is key. Perhaps they’re in the dark about how their conduct is impacting team dynamics. Behind many jerks is a conflict-avoidant manager, so a senior executive should be involved every step of the way. Moreover, involving a higher-up underlines the gravity of the situation. Once the employee has had time to digest the feedback, create a plan to rectify the situation. Here are some tips to develop an effective plan that involves:
- Collaboration: The manager and the employee must collaborate on the plan. The employee is more likely to buy in when given a voice.
- Coaching: Offer access to coaching and training resources, both internal and external.
- Check-ins: Check in with the employee frequently and reaffirm your support. It’s you and them vs. the problem, not you vs. them.
- Change: If the brilliant jerk is a manager, the plan may involve moving them into an individual contributor role.
Throughout this process, try to diagnose whether it’s a “will” or a “skill” gap. Skill gaps can be tackled with coaching, training and feedback. However, here are some signs to look for if you suspect you have a will gap on your hands:
- The employee says the right things when receiving feedback, but their actions say otherwise.
- You observe a temporary improvement in behavior, but they often revert to their old ways.
- They get defensive or make excuses, or worse, blame others for their actions.
- You continue to receive complaints from colleagues.
- You observe limited or no improvement despite ongoing coaching, i.e., the employee does not want to change.
If you’ve identified a will gap, it’s time to make a hard decision. When an employee’s values are not aligned with those of the organization, and the dissonance is apparent in their behavior, parting ways will serve both parties well in the long run.
Once you’ve dealt with one brilliant jerk, install mechanisms to ensure you don’t end up with more. Tweak your interview process if needed. Across time and geography, through the ups and downs of business cycles and seismic disruptions to the business landscape, one universal, time-tested truth is that the best, most successful organizations have strong cultures and core values. These organizations build and protect their cultures in large part by maintaining a high bar for who gets to be a part of their team. They relentlessly look for talent that will fit with and strengthen their cultures.
Related Article: How to Stop Bullying in the Digital Workplace
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Positive Effects of Removing a Brilliant Jerk
Removing one brilliant jerk can unleash the potential of entire teams around them. If the brilliant jerk was a people leader, you’ll observe higher productivity and engagement among the team(s) they managed.
It will improve culture, and by extension, the employer brand. The empathy and psychological safety of teams will improve.
And in the long run, importantly, you’ll create more economic value because brilliant jerks do indeed cost your bottom line.
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