About 15 years ago, I was working in a key position for a worldwide training company. The owners decided to hire a new training director. She was from a large corporation and brought a new flavor to the team. The flavor she brought did not taste good. Sylvia was what is commonly referred to as a “body tripper”.
At first, Sylvia was friendly and gracious to everyone on the team. Then, once she got situated in her position, she began to change. She became aloof, ignored people, wouldn’t listen to anyone, and it wasn’t long before virtually everyone resented her. I said, “virtually”. There were a few people she was very nice too. They were all in top management. She had them snookered. Top management didn’t see what we saw.
I remember the effect she had on the culture. You could feel it. Our enthusiasm as a team began to erode, and it wasn’t long before our spirit was in bits and pieces. I wasn’t happy, and I left to start my own company. Since my departure several other very talented people chose to move on also. The cost to the company was enormous. Predictably, the time eventually came when top management got wise to Sylvia and sent her packing.
When former Chrysler Chairman Lee Iacocca would hire people, he had an expression he used when he would read, “Does not work well with others”. He called it the “kiss of death”. He knew it was impossible to build a strong team when a key player has low emotional intelligence.
Earlier this month, Jennifer Wallace wrote an article in the Wall Street Journal entitled, “The High Cost of Workplace Rudeness”. This cost is high…very high. We simply can’t tolerate it.
