By Jack McDaniel
In Andrew Lloyd Webber’s stage production of Phantom of the Opera, the character of Carlotta Giudicelli is an ill-tempered Italian soprano diva—a prima donna in both the literal and the pop cultural sense. Carlotta gets her richly-deserved comeuppance when she ignores the Phantom’s threats, takes the lead in Il Muto, and is reduced to a croaking parody of herself in front of a full house.
And that’s all part of the fun of theatre. The trouble with translating this to the business world is that prima donnas rarely croak like frogs. They’re performers, and they know when and how to sing.
And whether we admit it or not, it’s good to have prima donnas on our team. The key is knowing how to manage not only our star performers, but also our supporting players, understudies, stage managers, and the rest of the cast and crew. Balancing these relationships is never easy. When you add in the rapid business changes we’re facing in a world economy in crisis, that balance may seem impossible. How do you mold highly competitive and often idiosyncratic individuals into a smoothly-operating team?
The answer is to keep things simple and go back to basics. Treat people in your organization with respect—regardless of their position or relative star status. Focus on issues and behaviors, not on personalities. Always demand ethical behavior in yourself and others. Set the agenda for positive change, model what you want to see in others, and keep the consequences of your actions in mind. These are the Basic Principles at the core of successful businesses.
Even with these guidelines, dealing with divas of either gender can be problematic. We need our stars to deliver, yet we also want them to play well with others. One technique for handling challenging star performers is to help them a) recognize the need for behavior change and b) commit to changing their behavior. During this conversation, you can apply five Key Actions from the Managing the Performance of Others™ workshop:
1. Collect background information. 2. Describe the problem. 3. Mutually assess the situation. 4. Agree on an action plan. 5. Offer support.Every prima donna has an aria to sing. Every manager has a story about dealing with a challenging star performer. I invite you to reply and share your own experiences in managing your prima donnas.
