The Maverick

6th February 2014

The Kevin Pietersen sacking has recently brought to a head the argument about how best to manage the maverick. Some say you can’t get rid of one so talented, whilst others say he is a disruptive influence, and causes problems all around him. I have to say I tend to be in the latter camp, but the whole issue has made me question is it really the best option to sack your most productive team member.

Essentially I suppose it does come down to management. Allowing a head-strong, self-opinionated, arrogant person total freedom of how he or she conducts themselves around their work colleagues cannot be a good thing. However, to tie them too tightly to the rules and regulations will simply stifle them, and they will probably leave anyway. It is a fine balance. If you allow one person to get away with things that others are not allowed to do, then you will cause ill-feeling and resentment in the team.

So how should you work with such a person? Having thought about it long and hard, it is still vital that everyone (maverick or not) must stick within the general rules, and agree to commit to the culture of the business. However, you should encourage creativity, and autonomy within each role as much as possible, so that you allow your “difficult” staff the chance to do their own thing, within reason. This doesn’t mean that they can set up new systems and go off in their own direction, but it does mean that they can suggest better ways of doing things and challenge the equilibrium, thereby satisfying their need for individual growth, and your need to do things the best way. In other words be strong, and manage these types, rather than just give up and get rid of them.

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