The Playbook: How to Handle Brilliant Jerks

Step 1: Decide if you should hire them in the first place.

The best time to deal with a brilliant jerk is before they become your problem.

In most cases, don't hire them. Even if they're exceptionally talented, brilliant jerks poison company culture and demotivate everyone else around them. Most roles simply aren't mission-critical to the point where it's worth the cultural damage.

The only exception: When their expertise is genuinely irreplaceable and the role can be isolated.

For example, if there are only ten algorithm engineers in the world who can do what you need, and you can structure the role so they primarily interact with one person (usually the CEO), then maybe it's worth considering.

Step 2: When you do hire a brilliant jerk, contain the damage.

If you've already hired someone like this, or inherited them, here's how to minimize the cultural impact:

Isolate them from the rest of the team. Structure their role so they primarily interact with one person who has a higher tolerance for their behavior and understands their value.

Set crystal-clear expectations. Make it mentally clear to yourself that this is purely a work relationship. You're unlikely to have much more than that with this person, and that's okay.

Define concrete goals and deliverables. The main reason you're keeping them is because they deliver exceptional results. Make sure they're actually delivering. If they're not performing at the level that justifies their behavior, they're not a brilliant jerk - they're just a jerk.

Step 3: Know when to let them go.

This is where most CEOs struggle. Here are the clear signals that it's time for a brilliant jerk to go:

When the cons outweigh the pros. If their behavior is causing more damage than their contributions create value, the math is simple.

When they have to manage people. If the role evolution requires them to lead a team and they can't or won't improve their interpersonal skills, they've outgrown their usefulness.

When their work is no longer specialized. Once they've built the "secret sauce" and other people can maintain or build on their work, their irreplaceability diminishes.

When their behavior threatens company stability. Erratic behavior, emotional blackmail, or threats to quit every time they don't get their way all cross the line into potentially damaging the company.

The Keeper Test: Ask yourself this question from the playbook written by Reed Hastings, CEO of Netflix: If they were offered another job tomorrow and decided to take it, how hard would I fight to keep them at the company? If the answer isn't "very hard," you have your answer.

Step 4: Let them go with integrity.

When you do decide to part ways, how you handle the departure matters enormously. Your team will be watching closely to see how you treat former employees.

Put yourself in their shoes. Getting fired is devastating emotionally and financially, regardless of the circumstances that led to it.

Provide real support for their transition:

• Give them a meaningful severance package (minimum two months, realistically three or more)

• Put genuine effort into helping them find their next role quickly

• Become their advocate in your network

Handle the announcement with class. Don't blame or criticize them publicly. Instead, praise their contributions to the company and take ownership for the mismatch. Either you didn't evaluate well during recruiting, or you didn't onboard effectively. Take responsibility and explain what you're doing differently going forward.

Help them find their ideal role. This person has skills and passions that didn't align with your company's needs. Help them figure out what their dream job would be, then become their agent. Write a description of their talents, post it on your social media with your endorsement, and actively connect them with opportunities.

How his "brilliance" became toxic:

Forstall's behavior created serious problems across Apple's leadership team. He clashed so badly with Jony Ive (design) and Bob Mansfield (technology) that meetings between them required Tim Cook to personally mediate the conversations.

The breaking point came with the iOS 6 Maps debacle in September 2012. When Apple's built-in Maps app launched riddled with errors - missing landmarks, misrouted directions, even inverted coastlines - the company faced rare public criticism.

Under Apple's "directly responsible individual" principle, Forstall was expected to sign the company's public apology. He refused. That defiance became the final straw.

Tim Cook's response:

Just over a month after Maps launched, Cook announced that Forstall would leave Apple and serve as Cook's advisor through the end of the year, and his core responsibilities were redistributed across the team.

Cook's decision sent a crystal-clear message: no individual's technical prowess outweighs the need for collaboration and accountability.

The results:

Short-term, reassigning Forstall's duties immediately smoothed cross-departmental workflows. Design and engineering began integrating more tightly without the territorial battles.

Long-term, Apple launched iOS 7 in 2013 with a completely revamped, collaboratively designed interface. The company has maintained its reputation for seamless hardware-software integration ever since.

Tim Cook's handling of Scott Forstall shows that even star performers must be held to the same behavioral standards as everyone else when their conduct undermines the broader team. This enforced accountability helped Apple realign around its core values of design unity and operational discipline.

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About Regina Gerbeaux

Shortly after her role as Chief of Staff, then COO, she opened her own coaching practice, Coaching Founder, and has worked with outrageously talented operators on teams like Delphi AI, dYdX, Astronomer, Fanatics Live, and many more companies backed by funds like Sequoia and Andreessen Horowitz.

Her open-sourced write-ups on Operational Excellence and how to run a scaling company can be found here and her templates can be found here.

She lives in the Pacific Northwest with her partner Lucas and dog Leia, and can be found frequenting 6:00AM Orangetheory classes or hiking trails nearby.