Heidi K. Gardner, a professional leadership consultant and distinguished fellow at the Harvard Law School, told CNBC Make It that most detestable trait in an employee it is unreliability or lack of competence. But what does it mean? And how to avoid this behavior?
The lack of reliability and competence in the work environment
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Passing off someone else's work or ideas as your own is unethical and undermines trust in colleagues.
For Gardner, this attitude can reveal an inability to appreciate other people's contributions, which is a big red flag. This lack of reliability and competence, in the long term, can harm the success of the company and the individual.
The importance of teamwork
Working as a team is crucial to the success of any company and to the individual's own success. However, it's important to be transparent when an idea isn't yours to avoid coming across as untrustworthy. Gardner points out that “smart collaboration” is the key to success.
This term describes the situation where colleagues work together on a task that could have been accomplished alone, resulting in greater confidence, productivity and quality of work.
CEOs value integrity
This question raises a long-held tenet of billionaire Warren Buffett: Trustworthiness is the most valuable trait of any employee.
In a 1998 speech to MBA students at the University of Florida, Buffett shared the top three qualities he looks for in a potential employee or business partner: intelligence, initiative and integrity. He emphasized that without integrity, the other two qualities can be useless and even harmful.
Lack of reliability and competence is a highly undesirable trait in any employee. Valuing integrity is essential to building trust among co-workers and ensuring long-term success.
Smart collaboration is a practice that should be adopted by work teams, as it ensures greater trust, productivity and quality of work.
