Impact of non-performers on team trust

I met with a CEO recently who told me about someone he hired who had an unexpected impact on the team and organization. The organization was a newspaper with an editorial staff. One of the editors this CEO hired had won awards and other accolades for his writing. He had a strong readership for his opinion pieces. This editor had a higher readership two years out than the other writers. The editor took a three-week vacation, and something unexpected happened with the rest of the team. The team was more productive, the quality of their writing increased, and their readership increased significantly. Readership overall was a great deal higher while the editor was away, and there weren't significant news events to explain why. You might think their readership increased because readers didn't have the editor's columns to read. He had prepared several columns in advance on topics that weren't as dependent on daily events, so his column still ran as usual in his absence. It became evident that this editor's challenging nature was negatively affecting the team's performance. The team flourished in his absence, but when he returned, their productivity declined. The CEO was left with no choice but to part ways with the editor, realizing a valuable lesson in the process. While important, this experience underscored that individual accomplishments and skills do not guarantee a candidate's success within a team. You must consider cultural fit and how a particular team member enhances or diminishes team performance.

Trust collapsed after one missed deadline They delivered millions in savings together. Then one critical project failed. I watched my client Sarah's (have seeked their permission and changed their name for confidentiality) team transform from celebrating quarterly wins to exchanging terse emails within weeks. During our first coaching session, they sat at opposite ends of the table, avoiding eye contact. "We used to finish each other's sentences," Sarah confided. "Now we can barely finish a meeting without tension." Sound familiar? This frustration isn't about skills—it's about broken trust. In The Thin Book of Trust, Charles Feltman provides the framework that helped us diagnose what was happening. Trust, he explains, isn't mysterious—it breaks down into four measurable elements: ✅ Care – Sarah's team stopped checking in on each other's wellbeing ✅ Sincerity – Their communications became guarded and political ✅ Reliability – Missed deadlines created a cycle of lowered expectations ✅ Competence – They began questioning each other's abilities after setbacks The breakthrough came when I had them map which specific element had broken for each relationship. The pattern was clear: reliability had cracked first, then everything else followed. Three months later, this same team presented their recovery strategy to leadership. Their transformation wasn't magic—it came from deliberately rebuilding trust behaviors, starting with keeping small promises consistently. My video walks you through this exact framework. Because when teams fracture, the question isn't "Why is everyone so difficult?" but rather: "Which trust element needs rebuilding first—and what's my next concrete step?" Which trust element (care, sincerity, reliability, competence) do you find breaks down most often in struggling teams? #humanresources #workplace #team #performance #cassandracoach

Think a little poor behaviour isn’t that harmful – time to wise up 👇   On a recent project I heard and observed first hand the negative impact of un-challenged behaviour across the organization. Ultimately it compounded over time and the outcomes were huge.   Within a couple of months the following became part of people's workplace reality.   1️⃣ Back handed, disrespectful conversations led to fractured relationships that were previously positive.   2️⃣ The presence of incivility increased across departments.   3️⃣ People doubted their abilities and talents which impacted on sense of self and connection cross and within departments. As well as own wellbeing.   Teams began to not trust one another when they had only a few weeks prior.   4️⃣ Comments were made that were untrue, defamatory and delivered with the aim to segregate and isolate certain team members.   Next time you want to write it off as someone "having a bad day" I ask you to dig deeper.   As I say “you need to sweat the small stuff” before it becomes the big stuff. What's caused you to respectfully challenge someone's behaviour❓Let us know in the comments.   PS If you're a purpose led Leader interested in solving workplace brain drain, please follow me Ali Uren and subscribe to my newsletter - The Experiment 📙 Awarded LinkedIn Top Voice 2024.

I fired a top performer because they weren’t a team player. Here’s what happened: Our team was having a hard time in lot of high volume recruiting needs from our clients. I found a recruiter that was very efficient and just really good at getting the job done. But within the first few weeks, we noticed was that they were not a team player. They were very abrasive and somewhat of a morale killer. So, while we were succeeding on the financial side and executing on tasks, the team overall never felt worse. It was my first time in dealing with that type of work environment and that type of personality. Observing the impact that just one person could have on an entire organization taught me a lot about the importance of making sure a new hire is just as much a cultural fit as a business fit. In the end, despite the multitude of conversations we had with that recruiter we had to part ways. So, what did I learn from all this? 1️⃣ Execution can not be your only priority in the hiring process. This led to hiring this specific recruiter in the first place who was clearly not the right fit. 2️⃣ I learned that culture was NOT just for big companies- it’s for any company including startups! 3️⃣ Negativity from one person can cripple an entire team of people. Now, we involve the team in meeting candidates during the hiring process, listen to their feedback, and take it into consideration. I also ask for examples of past work experiences they’ve had where they had to step in and assist their coworkers. All of that is so important to the success of an entire team. The moral of the story? Past history is the best example of future behavior. Would you agree? Nik