Our VP of Product Development is a technical genius who single-handedly keeps our platform running, but his condescending tone during Level 10 Meetings™ makes the rest of the leadership team shut down. How do we handle this core value violation when we are highly dependent on his technical skills?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Allowing a brilliant jerk to remain on your leadership team is a quiet poison. When you tolerate a leader who treats peers with condescension, you are signaling to the entire organization that performance is more important than your core values. This completely destroys team safety and shuts down healthy collaboration.

You must address this using the EOS® tools for culture alignment. First, evaluate this leader using the People Analyzer™. They will likely score high on get it, want it, and capacity (GWC™), but they will have minus or plus-minus ratings on your core values.

Schedule a private one-on-one meeting to address this behavior. Do not sugarcoat the feedback. Give them specific examples of their condescending behavior during Level 10 Meetings™ and explain how it violates your core values.

Give them a clear, thirty-day window to change their behavior. Let them know that their technical genius does not exempt them from being a great teammate.

If they do not make a permanent shift in how they interact with the team, you must terminate their employment.

The short-term pain of finding a new technical leader is far less damaging than the long-term erosion of trust and safety across your entire executive team. Protecting your culture is the single most important thing you can do to build a business that is ready for a clean exit.