It is not an easy thing being a leader at all, and this is even truer if you are placed at the head of a high-impact team. It is the task of leaders to form excellent teams by bringing the very best out of every member and optimizing the team’s potential. But even more crucial is that a leader will have to face the difficult task of handling total misfits.
This is the reality of life, and there is practically no team that does not have one misfit or the other in it. But it is the ability to correctly analyze the merits and the demerits of each worker that makes a boss genuinely outstanding. A good leader can see the potential greatness in a worker even when it is apparent to the others that he is nothing but an irritant. This will help in many ways as the bonding, innovation, and even level of respect in the team will all increase noticeably.
One way a leader can spot a misfit team member is that he or she does not have any passion whatsoever. It is apparent whenever a team member does not possess the much-needed power for carrying out duties as outlined by the organization, affecting the venture’s mission and goals.
But that said, people do not express passion in one way; there are several ways by which a good leader can spot this. Passion is not always external so a leader has to think deeply about handling someone that others consider to be an irredeemable misfit. But that said, some real misfits are interested in just getting paid for doing practically nothing in return. So, the first thing a good leader must watch out for is a sign of confrontation or discontent.
As misfits have no passion for the job given to them, it is understandable that they are quick to express their deviant behavior at the slightest provocation, which is not good for the team. It is a different thing if the confrontation is healthy. It takes a good and wise leader to understand if a confrontation is beneficial or destructive. Constant and non-stop conflict is not good for any team, but whenever it crops up, what the leader should do is ensure that logic is applied instead of going emotional because that will spoil things further.
Misfits are only good at causing problems for everyone, but it is the leader’s task to handle and work with these kinds of people. The leader has to outline the vision, purpose, and goals of the organization. This way, it becomes easier for everyone to know the goal they are working towards and spot those who are not falling in line.
Leaders need to have all the tools and skills relevant for knowing which candidates are the very best and most excellent. That is why the prescreening and the interview sessions have to be done excellently so that all applicants’ personal traits are fully understood. Profiling of personality assists the managers to comprehend the mindset of those working with them. This also helps in identifying the misfits, and they are sorted on time as a way of prevention.
Another way a leader can handle the matter of misfit is to make sure that they are repeatedly trained. Training them is going to help in sharpening their edges while also bringing out the very best. There is a bit of misfit in everyone, but what makes all the difference is how the leader can manage it.
