All of us have worked with colleagues who were brilliant (very high IQ) but have an attitude. They typically understand that they are much better than the rest of the population at work and behave as such. With their high strung attitude, they treat their team members with disrespect and nonchalance as the team members do not measure up to their intellectual capabilities. The team members, in turn, do not wish to interact with this person with an A+ intelligence. Does this highly intelligent and individually productive member of the team a good member for the long term? Where do you stand?

The other kind of employee is the one with an above average IQ but with the 'right' attitude. He/She may not get the problem solved as soon as the one with A+ IQ but would solve it eventually. With the yearning to learn and grow, this group of members can be molded to improve and perform at their peak performance over time.

The question is the following. Who would you prefer to hire? The A+ with the attitude or the A with the 'right' attitude? Are you hiring for the long term or the short term? Are you ready to compromise A+ productivity for A? How much do you compromise on the values of the team for the A+ member? These are tough choices to make. However, with the focus on long term benefit to the organization, values and attitude must be given the higher priority when hiring the next team member. It is very important that the organization place as high a priority on understanding the attitude and the values of the member to be hired as on estimating the capability to perform to the job requirements.

Providing an environment that's conducive to developing strong values and creating a fun but engaging environment is a must for long term benefits to the employees and the organization. It is at any day better to build a strong A team with the 'right' attitude for the long term vs. a team with A+ members with attitude that's destined to break soon.