Who Needs Collaboration? (You Do)

In my first job after college, I was a rising star at a large corporation. Because I was smart and hard-working, the company saw that I had potential. I was young, confident, and full of ideas.

I was also kind of a jerk.

I didn’t know how to work with a team. I was impatient with other people who I felt didn’t know as much as me. I steamrolled right over my co-workers and their ideas. Because I had such a strong belief in my own abilities, I saw no need to document my work or write out procedures. I wouldn’t share the details of my projects with anyone and instead hoarded all the information for myself. I wouldn’t give my coworkers the time of day.

But after a while, all my energy was devoted to maintaining my projects -- and I couldn't move on to other things. I couldn’t advance because I had proven I wasn’t ready to be a leader. My ego and I had worked ourselves right in a corner.

When you’re hiring, you may be looking for rising stars. Or you might already have superstars in your ranks, who, like me, know how to shine on small projects, but prove to be difficult or impossible on larger projects that require collaboration with other people.

What I didn’t grasp back then was that an average employee who understands the art of collaboration can be more valuable than a high performer who hoards all the knowledge for his own purposes.

It takes a special kind of person to be generous and help their co-workers achieve -- the kind who puts others first and is in sync with the company and its objectives. That’s the kind of person you want working for you. That takes maturity, and it doesn’t develop overnight.

So what changed it all for me? How did I learn the error of my ways?

I began to learn this hard lesson when the company hired another superstar -- someone even brighter and harder-working than me. He was also an even bigger jerk than me. Like me, he hoarded all of the knowledge he had acquired. He did to me what I had done to the others, but went even further. He deliberately sabotaged my work and then gossiped about me to my co-workers. It was painful.

The bosses were watching to see how I handled myself with this guy. This time, I redeemed myself by working hard and minding my own business. The experience changed me. I was finally humbled. I realized the damage I had caused other people, the company, and my own career. And the other guy? He ended up in a dead-end position in the company and later quit. That could have been me.

No one took me aside and taught me these lessons. I had to learn them on my own. But now that I’m a business owner, I try to ward off this kind of attitude if I see it crop up occasionally in my workplace. I’ve shared this story with my employees so hopefully they will learn from me. Hoarding information doesn’t lead to job security -- it leads to fewer opportunities. I caution them against creating their own little empires of unnecessary systems and bureaucracies, which end up bogging down our productivity as a company. We are a lean operation, and I want to keep it that way.

We aren’t perfect, but we are also intentionally careful in how we treat each other. We try hard to create an atmosphere of mutual respect. We have plenty of stars in our ranks, but we accomplish much more together than any of us could on our own. Collaboration is a natural part of our workday.

Here’s my advice: when hiring, be on your guard against superstars who think they know it all. Chances are, that they still have a lot to learn about being human.