Are ‘brilliant jerks’ ruining your workplace? How to spot one and call it out

Published 2 Min Read

An angry boss yells at four employees who are seated around a wooden table inside a glass conference room.
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More likely than not, you’ve had a coworker who was perceived as brilliant at their job but incredibly difficult to interact with. Is it time for corporate America to question whether these employees are worth keeping around?

Kimberly Williams, vice president of people, culture and compliance at Walker Advertising, has a name for this type of office fixture: The “brilliant jerk,” noting that they typically have leadership roles of some kind and tend to be credited for bringing substantial profits to the company. She believes employers are long overdue to rethink their value to the team, since they often cause more damage than employers think. 

First things first: Employers need to root out which employees are brilliant jerks. Williams advises companies to run 360-degree performance reviews, where employees are reviewed not only by their superiors, but also by their peers and subordinates. 

Read more: How to create connections with colleagues — without dinner and drinks

Deanna Cuadra
Senior Reporter

Deanna Cuadra is a senior reporter at Employee Benefit News. Her work covers healthcare, U.S. policy and reform, challenges faced by women and parents in the workplace and innovation in work culture … Read full bio


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