Every Team Has an Asshole – How to Make Sure Yours Doesn't

Prevent one bad apple from spoiling the whole barrel

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We've all worked in teams with an asshole who continually sabotages collaboration. You know who I’m talking about. That difficult colleague who insults, bullies, and takes credit for others’ work, dragging people down.

The damage assholes can inflict is real and often underestimated. Bad apples don’t just harm their victims but spoil the whole culture.

But it doesn’t have to be that way.

As a culture transformation consultant, I often come across bad apples. It seems that every team has at least one. But that doesn’t mean we should normalize such behavior. Not on my watch.

Who’s the asshole in the team? When I pose this powerful question, typically, all team members point to the same person.

Although assholes are easy to identify, most companies do nothing about it. Let me show you how to spot assholes and the strategies I share with my clients to neutralize bad apples.

Every team likely has a difficult member who undermines collaboration by insulting, bullying, and tak…