The surprising downside of high-performing employees

Leaders are obsessed with hiring top talent: Steve Jobs once said that “a small team of A+ players can run circles around a giant team of B and C players.” But high performers can come with their share of challenges.

“At some point, capability can become a liability—not only because that person becomes overloaded and burned out, but because the system never develops in a way that supports organizational health,” leadership adviser Lauren Cohen tells Fast Company contributor Jessica Wilen.

This doesn’t mean you should stop hiring top talent—but rather, it’s essential to do a better job of managing them.

“Being capable is valuable for a long time in your career, but as you elevate into leadership, it becomes much more about building capacity around you,” Cohen says.

Shalene Gupta