“Should You Keep A Talented Jerk?” And Four Other Leadership Questions For Zane Bagley of Alpine Restoration

Hollywood loves talented jerks—from a distance. Whether it’s Iron Man or Sherlock Holmes, these characters have created cult followings, even if they wouldn’t be much fun to work with.

But what about real life?

It’s an all-too-familiar scenario: You have a super-talented worker who ticks all the technical boxes but is a pain to be around. They get the job done but drain and exhaust those around them in the process.  

How do you navigate this dilemma as a leader? Do you prioritize their technical excellence, even if they disrupt the team’s dynamics? Can you train soft skills? These questions and more were top of mind when we recently sat down with Zane Bagley to understand what it takes to build leaders.

As president of Alpine Restoration, Zane oversees 100+ employees and multiple offices, a far cry from the four-person team he started with when he joined Alpine in 1997.  Drawing from his hard-won industry knowledge, Zane gave us a few valuable points to help guide organizations dealing with a similar issue.

[This conversation has been edited for clarity]

1) Picture this: You have an all-star technician who’s really good at what they do, but they’re just a jerk. People hate working with them. How do you navigate that as a leader?

The short answer is training.

The long answer is to put internal systems in place to catch things like this. In the past, when we had employees like you described—people who do an excellent job but others can’t stand—we’ve put them in a process.

Our HR director meets with the individual for four sessions and takes them through basic communications and soft skills training. The core idea is to help them learn how to build and work with a team. We’ve seen such great results with the program that we now offer it as a company-wide activity.

2) How would you guide a newly promoted leader struggling to transition from being "one of the team" to managing their former peers? They’re having difficulty earning respect and stepping into their new role, and their peers find it hard to accept them as a leader. How would you counsel them?

I think of this in two parts. The first would be meeting with some of the people having a hard time with the new leader and getting their feedback on what they feel is going wrong. The next step is taking all this feedback to this leader in an open-ended way.

Something like, “This is how they feel—how would you feel in the same situation?” Generally, you want to help them be open-minded to do better.

I hate to say it, but much of being a leader comes down to training and working with people—not giving up on them, not being quick to throw someone out if it’s not working, but also not leaving someone who’s not a good fit too long.

Honestly, it’s a balancing act.

The second part is having a conversation about their managerial experience. For example, I can ask them about their biggest struggles while managing people. If they say, “People, don’t listen to me,” then we need to explore that answer.

One way to do this is to show them how you’ve led them in the past and check if that’s how they’ve led others, too. If you do things correctly from the top down, others will also learn. That’s how culture is created—everyone works together and learns from each other on what to do and what not to do.

3) How would you help a highly skilled contributor, recently promoted to management, transition from doing everything themselves out of frustration to effectively leading and motivating their team to meet their high standards?

It’s all about communication—talking to them, listening to them, and helping them see the bigger picture of how much they can do with multiple people versus going solo.

A few years ago, I was in a similar shoe. After running significant losses while trying to be a manager and estimator, I had an epiphany: Why am I not letting the person I’m training or others in the company show what they can do?

I realized I was holding work back by trying to do everything myself. Interestingly, once I switched my mindset to “my employees are great, and I trust them,” Alpine started to grow. So, because I’ve been there, I can understand and help them navigate this phase.

4) What strategy has worked for you in helping you raise leaders?

At Alpine, we have what some people have termed as group-based sessions.

The idea is simple: We divide managers into small groups of 10 for eight weeks of weekly 2-hour sessions with a dedicated therapist consultant.

Once the first group finishes, another group (of 10) continues weekly sessions with the consultant for eight weeks.

This arrangement allows for deeper engagement, meaningful discussions, and personalized growth, fostering teamwork and personal development that benefits managers at work and in their personal lives.

We’ve noticed that employees feel valued after these sessions, and the intimate setting also builds leaders who are equipped to handle on-the-job challenges, create solutions, and inspire their teams.

5) What’s a timeless truth you hold on to as a leader? Something that helps you navigate hard times and be the best leader you can be?

I live by the Golden Rule: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”

We talk about this rule in our meetings all the time.

You’re a homeowner going through a challenging time—how would you like to be treated? How would you want people to treat your home when they enter it?

As a leader, how would you like people leading you? Do unto others as you want to be treated. It’s one of those things that definitely helps the company's culture. It’s an old cliché, but there will be positive results if you can live by it.

Want more leadership insights from Zane and 13 other respected restoration leaders? Click here to download our book, Building Leaders. We dive into the good, the bad, and the difficult parts of being a leader in the restoration industry.

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