How Leaders Can Spot, Deal With, and Transform a Scary Specialist
The Scary Specialist is the expert who isn’t afraid to let you know it.
They’ll weaponise their expertise to avoid being controlled. In the wrong circumstances they can cause significant damage to your organisation. Forcing people to leave or quiet-quit, paradoxically lowering performance. Making you and colleagues tiptoe around them, blocking your attempts to improve things and blaming everybody else for not being up to the job.
But at their best, they can be great. Raising standards, setting the pace for delivery and being the powerhouse of your business.
In this video for leaders and HR professionals, I’ve set out:
- how to spot a Scary Specialist; the signs to look out for, the impacts to be aware of;
- my three leadership strategies for dealing with a Scary Specialist and making sure you hang-on to what makes them useful;
- four must-try development tips for transforming them into someone who, instead of being scary, will uplift the whole team.
If you found this helpful, share it with a colleague who’s facing a Scary Specialist. And follow for more on turning difficult dynamics into great working relationships.
