Article: Scary Specialist – Difficult Person Type 1
Some of the most difficult people at work are difficult precisely because they’re so good at what they do. They deliver, they set the standard and they make it very clear when others don’t meet that standard.
In this article I’ll explore the Scary Specialist: type 1 in my 9 Types of Difficult People. I’ll look at:
- The core pattern behind the Scary Specialist
- The paradox at the heart of their behaviour
- Practical ways to respond, whether you lead them or work alongside them
Who the Scary Specialist Is
The Scary Specialist is the expert who really isn’t afraid to let you know that they’re the expert.
These are people with deep knowledge and serious capability. They care about competence, pace, quality, and they set the bar very high for themselves and for everyone else.
At their best, they can really be the engine room of your business; driving results and driving success.
When it Starts to go Wrong
But things get difficult when anything threatens their ability to deliver.
That might be a weak process or a colleague who isn’t pulling their weight. Or a change that threatens their independence or threatens their control over their domain.
And when that happens, they become even more critical and even more demanding, and they will say exactly what they think no matter how brutally honest.
The Impact on Others
So you might notice people starting to tiptoe around them, or that new joiners to their department don’t last very long, and that other people start to leave the organisation because of them.
And this is the paradox, of course.
The Scary Specialist values competence above all else. But under pressure, their behaviour creates fear and silence and withdrawal in others.
And so the overall performance of the organisation, your organisational competency starts to suffer.
Leading a Scary Specialist
So if you are leading a Scary Specialist, you need to be very clear about any negative impacts they’re having.
Vague feedback or hoping they’ll somehow get nicer rarely works.
Above all, as a leader, you need to demand that your Scary Specialist continues to raise their level of competence. But not just their technical skills or their know-how, but also their competence in their own leadership and their competence in how they relate to other people.
Working with a Scary Specialist
If you’re working for, or alongside a Scary Specialist, two things really matter.
- Raise your own standards where you genuinely can. Become really good at your job. That’s all they really want from you;
- Be clear about your boundaries and be prepared to stand up for your boundaries.
Scary Specialists, respect, drive, and independence. So just tell them directly whenever their behaviour crosses some kind of a line for you. And the more direct you are in this, the more likely you are to get a good result from them.
At Their Best
At their best, Scary Specialists are not really scary at all.
They’re the experts whose drive and standards lift everyone around them.
But that only works, of course, when their expertise serves the whole organisation and not just their small patch of it.
About Me
I’m an executive coach helping leaders and senior teams turn challenging dynamics into great working relationships.
My first full-length book, The 9 Types of Difficult People, published by Pearson, is an Amazon and WHSmith best-seller. https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1292726067
My new flagship programme The Shift is a team development experience for senior leadership teams who sense they’re not yet working well enough together, maybe not firing on all cylinders, even if no one has said it out loud. https://www.nickrobinson.org/the-shift-leadership-team-development
