Wasted energy

# Chapter 236

Talent + bad attitude = failure. - Masterminds

I would probably argue that anything plus a bad attitude equals a failure, but the boys do have a point here. Its an extra travesty when a person has talent and a bad attitude. Heck in my world its a travesty when anyone has a bad attitude period. What about your world? But I really think that the point they are making here is the high frequency of talent and bad attitude. Often the better the talent the worse the attitude. It is indeed a terrible combination. I can count on one hand how many highly talented people I have met that are humble and easy to work with.

Unfortunately my experience is that the highly talented folks who have a bad attitude are the drama queens of the work place. Practically all the wasted energy in my career has been centered around such people who, quite frankly, aren’t worth it. Notice that I said wasted energy. While we all desire admiration, the talented are addicted to it, and will throw temper tantrums to get it. Interestingly enough I don’t usually feel that the talented are actually TALENTED, except at their own PR. They can surely make their stuff sound like the best thing since bubblegum. Since these people can’t really function in a team of peers, my leadership and development advice is almost always, go lead your own org. It usually surprises me how few of them want to do that. Evidently staying around and making your org miserable is preferable.

My solution is to start with peeps with a good attitude. Everything else can be learned. = Success.