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Work ethic, productivity, teamwork, interpersonal skills… all those things matter, but so does this.
Recently I was asked to describe the qualities of the best employee I ever managed. Some of the best were extremely productive. Others were great team players. Others made the people around them better. Another called me out when I wasn’t performing as well as I could, something I didn’t enjoy but always appreciated.
Then I thought about Mark Cuban. Over the years he’s led hundreds of people across a wide variety of ventures and industries.
Here’s Cuban’s perspective on what makes an employee outstanding:
The people that tend to work for me a long time not only are smart, not only are driven, not only are learners.
They understand that the greatest value you can offer a boss is to reduce their stress. The people who tend to think that they are invaluable are typically the ones who create the most stress by creating firestorms and creating drama and making things more difficult for me.
Anybody who reduces my stress becomes invaluable to me. I never want to get rid of them.
And for good reason. No matter how talented, people who create drama almost always do more harm than good to an organization, and create more headaches than value for a boss. They take credit where credit is not due. They steal ideas. They can always find the dark cloud. They constantly find a way to take something — anything — personally.
Smart. Driven. Constantly learning. And constantly reducing stress.
For me, that was Robbie. He was a high-performing machine operator. He fit seamlessly into any crew. His mechanical skills were outstanding.
But more than that, he solved problems before I knew problems existed. He would stop me and say, “We have a problem with a conveyor. I lined up an electrician and we’re going to take lunch early so we won’t have any downtime.” He would stop me and say, “Next month Mark’s going to need a couple weeks off because his wife will have an operation. I know there won’t be any relief operators available, so we’re training Steve to take his place.” He would say, “You need to talk to Doug. He’s frustrated that he hasn’t gotten promoted, and it’s becoming a problem.”
Not only did Robbie never create stress for me, he also reduced stress I might have felt by stepping in to take care of actual problems. By stepping in to eliminate potential problems. By letting me know about small issues that, left unattended, could become big issues.
Outstanding performer. Outstanding stress reducer.
Invaluable.
While stress reduction isn’t a category on a performance evaluation, it should be a consideration.
Because the people who do their job well, and help you do your job well by not creating stress you have to deal with, and by actively reducing the level of stress you might otherwise feel?
They’re likely to be your best employees, too.
And should be paid accordingly.
This post originally appeared at inc.com.
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