Bringing in a star hire is a uniquely important moment for an organization, with the potential to dynamically shift chemistry, bring in new ideas and exponentially drive the business. However – the high stakes mean it also has the potential to go seriously off the rails.

Executive coach Sarah Watson shares her insights from a career in leadership, and advice for leaders and employees alike.

As organizations we have two main sources for building our team – we can promote from within, backing existing talent to grow; or we can bring in fresh talent from outside.

When it works, new talent can bring explosive success. But when it doesn’t there can be the complete opposite. Why are the stakes so high – and the outcomes so variable?

What happens when the ‘star hire’ goes wrong? Let’s explore why it can happen and what you can do about it.

The ‘stare hire’ scenario: high stakes all round
Sometimes an organization needs a big burst of new energy and ideas. Maybe the business needs to change, maybe an existing dynamic needs shaking up. An outside talent is identified and hired – often at great expense.

It is a moment of great expectation – there might be trade press headlines, company-wide introductions, team celebrations, new mandates.

For someone to take on a challenge like this, there has to be something strong driving them. To step into the spotlight, to take on a high profile challenge speaks to a moment in an individual’s career when they have an appetite to make their mark.

All this makes for a high stakes situation: everyone on both sides is deeply invested in the success of this hire.

Shake up but fit in: the star hire requirement
We want our star hires to come in with a mind of their own, the ability to drive new ideas and shake up dynamics. AND we also need them to fit into our structures, respect our hierarchies, learn our processes.

We want them to dig deep and bring their unique drive quickly into the organization – and we also need them to fit in and conform.

Navigating this fine line requires a heightened level of dialogue. All team members need dialogue with their leaders: in the star hire scenario, the need is significantly intensified.

Dreaming big: the star hire danger zone
Hiring new people is a time of big dreams. Dreams of a new adventure for the hire and a new future for the organization.

All this can serve as a reinforced mandate for the new hire, strengthening their ability to land powerfully and get things done.

However, in this danger zone of high octane shared dreams, there is a tremendous danger for both parties to step over red flags indicating that there is not full alignment.

When it misfires
When a star hire misfires, it is frequently because they are showing up, body and soul, to deliver on a mandate that is subtly but powerfully different from the one on the job description.

This inner mandate may look very similar to their job description. In fact, it might be a deeper or more literal translation of their mandate. It can be very hard to identify the issue because everyone is using the same language.

For example:

– The person asked to drive transformation may be doing this on an inner timeline that is faster than the organization can cope with.

– The person charged with raising standards in the work may be doing this in a way that is more exacting than the culture can handle.

– The person asked to build community within the team may feel very deeply that a true community needs to bypass the company’s usual hierarchies.

Faced with this high-stakes situation, it is easy to tip into judgment. We start to think of this behavior as unacceptable and look for ways to make it stop.

A new approach: finding the unspoken inner mandate
Here is a different way to look at this: top performers who become disruptive do not do so because they don’t know how to behave. They don’t apparently sabotage projects because they couldn’t care less about the consequences. They don’t damage relationships because they aren’t skilled at communicating.

They do these things for a very specific reason, and leaders need to approach these situations understanding this if we are to reach a resolution.

The disruptive behaviours are symptoms of one mandate crashing into another

When a star hire becomes actively destructive on an on-going basis, we are dealing with the deeper forces that drive an individual. And here the dialogue can break down: the star hire dream comes crashing down, fuelled by its high stakes expectations, and we end up meeting a highly driven person with shame and judgment.

Instead, we need to discover the individual’s unspoken mandate.

How to discover the unspoken mandate
Once you can find a shared language around what is actually happening, you can meet this person where they are – and begin a path to resolution.

You must begin by assuming good intentions. This is the most crucial and hardest step of all, given we are operating in a fraught context.

– Acknowledge the high stakes on all sides ‘ we all need this to work out’ and be willing to enter into a conversation of radical transparency.

– Break the cycle: All parties are backed into the legitimacy of their own position; ‘We,’ the company is right. ‘Me’, the talent with my alternative unspoken mandate is right.

You have to break this cycle if you are to make progress.

– Reserve judgment: These people are putting their whole self into their work. Being made to feel like pariahs to the business doesn’t set a fruitful place for problem solving.

– Be curious: Meet the person in the legitimacy of their unspoken mandate and be genuinely curious about what they are really doing.

– Ask open-ended questions: Find out what is driving this person. What are their dreams for this role? What are they trying to achieve? What is frustrating them?

In conclusion, the ‘star hire’ scenario is a high stakes one with huge upside potential, and huge downside dangers. It is powered by a cocktail of heightened expectations, ambition and dreams; all of which can serve to drive it exponentially forward, or take it quickly off the rails. The critical key is maintaining an equally heightened level of dialogue between hire and leadership – and one that is sensitive to the unique pitfalls on both sides.