Managing Anger in the Workplace

2. The Angry Star

In this syndrome, the organization allows certain highperforming individuals to direct anger in unchecked ways at those around them. Such “favoritism” is more apt to develop in companies where each employee’s financial performance is measurable, as in investment banks and law firms. Managers may tolerate individuals who generate high revenues for the firm but make life miserable for coworkers and subordinates—those on the receiving end of anger.

This is a particularly difficult pattern to break, as the goal of bottom-line profits suggests retaining these individuals at all cost, despite their negative effects on others. There is a problem with this limited view of profit, though: It rarely takes into account the possible long-term ...