Send to KindleWhen dealing with problem employees, you may not consider the ladder climber. You should because this person can cause a lot of trouble.
You’ve probably run across this person before. They will do anything in order to reach the next rung on the corporate ladder. They can be of any age or experience level and they are most evident by what they leave behind. Their footprints will appear on the backs of those who used to be their fellow workers.
One of your responsibilities as a leader is to grow future leaders. In your garden of leadership possibilities, these guys are the weeds. If you let them they will take over and choke out everyone else.
What do you do about them? First you have to recognize the climbers. They’re usually pretty obvious because they tend to make themselves known. Either they’re always hovering around you trying to curry favor, or they’re doing the same thing with your boss in an effort to go around you.
While you shouldn’t treat them any differently you do need to make it very clear you don’t appreciate what they’re doing and that it isn’t going to help them get ahead. Explain and demonstrate that the people who will get ahead are the team players. Don’t hesitate to discuss this with your boss so he or she knows what’s going on.
By the way, this isn’t the person who is ambitious and hard charging. It’s the one who takes advantage of others and usually grandly inflates their own contribution.
The ladder climber is one of the most difficult cases you’ll experience when dealing with problem employees. Be fair but be firm.
