In college basketball there are players known as being, “one-and-done,” as in playing one year for the college team and then going off to the NBA (because of rules preventing them from going to the NBA straight out of high school).
As a casual fan, I’ve come to appreciate the job certain coaches do with these players (aka prima donnas), not to mention their parents. Most of these players don’t want to be in college, it’s only a steppingstone, and often they tend to be culture disrupters. This appreciation comes from seeing all the other teams where these one-and-done players cause the team to underperform.
It’s just like in business, isn’t it? You strive to build a culture for growth, profits, advancement, and an enjoyable workplace and yet one person can damage, if not destroy, this. In an owner group I’m in I’ve heard about employees who:
- Refuse to cooperate with others, it’s their way or no way.
- Exhibit inappropriate behavior, sexist (sexual) in nature.
- Bully co-workers.
- Leverage special-class status (threatening that any action towards the employee would result in a legal action based on said status).
The above and other situations are why there’s constant interest from owners and managers on culture, employee relationships, managing all the HR regulations, etc. It’s a balancing act whether you manage single digits of people or hundreds. Unfortunately, there’s no easy, quick-fix solution; it takes patience and skill.
“Anything can happen, but it usually doesn’t.” (Humorist) Robert Benchley
