Give Thoroughbreds What They Need IF "The Juice is Worth the Squeeze"

"He/She can really produce for us but he/she can be such a pain!"  I hear that cry from leaders on a fairly regular basis as I coach them on dealing with high performance/high maintenance people on their team.  I call these kind of people "thoroughbreds", some of their co-workers call them "nuts" or worse.  I don't remember where I got the metaphor but I've used it for years.

The premise is this (at the risk of offending either some people or some animals depending on who you are referencing with this example): To bring out the best in people you must understand their personality and psychological make-up.  There is something to be learned by the difference between the thoroughbred race horse and the old reliable workhorse.

You can accomplish a lot of good, steady work with a tough workhorse.  The workhorse is bred for just that purpose. Not for speed or show, just good old fashioned strength and endurance to plod along and get the job done.  They will take a lot of hard work and even accept a tough taskmaster without a whole lot of complaining. You can yell at them one minute and then love on them the next and they'll just keep plodding ahead.  However, you'll never see anyone at Churchill Downs hanging a horseshoe shaped floral arrangement around the neck of one of these creatures. 

Then you have the high-strung, high-maintenance thoroughbred.  A horse that requires special care but one that delivers special results.  This horse works equally as hard as the other in what they do best: flying like the wind.  Their performance is what wins accolades and puts the farm on the map (and the prize in the owner's pocket).  However, they are sensitive and require special care, feeding, and training.  They can be expensive to have around but if they win races the payoff can be grand. 

In her article: "Thinking the Way Animals Do", Temple Grandin, an assistant professor of animal science at Colorado State University writes..."Horses with calm placid dispositions are more likely to habituate to rough methods of handling and training compared to flighty, excitable animals. The high-strung, spirited horse may be ruined by rough training methods because he becomes so fearful that he fails to learn, or habituate.
On the other hand, an animal with a calm, nonreactive nervous system will probably habituate to a series of nonpainful forced training procedures, whereas a flighty, high-strung nervous animal may never habituate. Horses who are constantly swishing their tails when there are no flies present and have their heads up are usually fearful horses. In the wild, horses put their heads up to look for danger."  http://tinyurl.com/cdgzgk

By now you've figured out the comparison to our people.  We have some people who are good, solid players who deserve our love and respect because they get the job done to a certain level without a lot of complaining or high maintenance work.  But, if we want our place to really shine at a different level we'll need that other kind of player who, though they require special handling, bring great rewards.

That term "special handling" is the lesson here.  If you are going to have a thoroughbred in your barn don't be naive or grumpy about what is required of you.  They will need more time and attention than the others.  They will constantly be fearful that you don't love, respect, and appreciate them.  They will constantly need your help with their insecurities and paranoia about their status.  You will have to give them more time and carefully think through every interaction.  However, when they run like the wind you can be the BIG WINNER.

Here's the balancing caveat: you have to be sure to constantly calculate the reward versus the investment of time and trouble these players may require.  My friend Dave Santrella calls it the "grief to dollar ratio."  I ask: "is the juice worth the squeeze?"  Either way, only you can determine if there are enough blue ribbons and sweepstakes payoffs to live with the care and training of this kind of team member.  You'll also have to work harder as a leader to keep them from tearing down the barn and running off all your workhorses.

Every hard working farm needs some good workhorses. But, if you aspire to have a farm that gets noticed for major accomplishments, you'll need a thoroughbred or two. Each must be handled differently and you, the leader, have to know the difference and "do the math".