The one who is swimming against the pack, constantly.
Sadly, almost every business has one, if not multiple versions of this not so unique species. You know the type: the one who refuses to play the team game, the one who thinks their experience or time in the seat means they have earnt the right to resist change, refusing to learn from others, particularly from younger team members, or worse, someone they report to who has less time in the job than they do.
Nothing slows a business down more than a roadblock inside.
As an accredited facilitator for Patrick Lencioni's Five Behaviours of a Cohesive Team (thanks to Keith and Kelley Ayers at Integro Learning in Sydney), as a Vistage chair, and in the work I do with Dr Chris Bollen in general practice all over Australia, I see the destructive consequences of these people regularly. They're toxic, sometimes aggressive, undermining, and extremely counterproductive.
They have a big negative impact on team culture and this needs managing urgently before you lose good people.
If you think I'm being harsh, it's because I am. My intolerance is showing.
I like a team game, and I have little time for people who don't want to play as part of the teams I am associated with. I recognise they may not want to play with me, and that's OK. Perhaps I am the problem. I am a strong D personality after all, but I am aware of it and so I look first to what I could be doing to improve team cohesion. It's up to me to lead in a way that encourages the blue fish to swim with the rest of the pack because it's the right direction, not against it because they just don't like it.
Who would have thought that fish whispering could be a thing.
I have tried to make an art of it: coaching and guiding, cajoling, training, delegating tasks to help them shine and encourage buy-in. Most people respond very favourably, because most people simply want to do a good job in their chosen roles.
But if an individual is simply refusing to align with the rest of the team, and unwilling to contribute to a team's potentially exceptional performance, that's a different story. That's often a consequence of anxiety generated through fear or uncertainty, and sometimes they are oblivious to their behaviour or its consequences. Perhaps all that is needed is a change of perspective, or some encouragement in how they can best use their skills and experience to contribute to the whole team's performance.
So we give them every chance of joining the team, and if they still can't, the team they're on is not the right team for them.
Self-selection is often the result. Blue fish often choose to leave. They get tired of swimming against the pack, and that's a good thing. They're holding the pack back, so the best thing is to move on.
There's an old saying I learnt years ago while studying and working in the USA: if you don't get rid of the jackasses, the non-jackasses leave. It's a bit like our "no dickhead" policy here in Australia. If people are getting in the way of the rest of the team functioning the way they need to, even if they're a champion player, and having a negative impact on team culture and group performance, it's intolerable. You will not move forward.
It's a tough part of the leadership responsibility, but you need to take it on if you want your teams and your business to thrive.
You'll lose focus if you don't. If you've got blue fish challenges, drop me a line or give me a call. I'd love to help you find a solution.
Cheers, Rod.