SELF-centred. Arrogant. Temperamental. Narcissistic.

Call Terrell Owens (TO) anything you want, but that doesn’t do much to deflate his value and allure as a football player.

As disruptive as the suspended Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver is to his coaches, team management and teammates, he still is viewed by some fans as a key component to the success of the Eagles, and many deem his presence essential if the team is to return to the Super Bowl.

His social behaviour is mirrored in the business world every day by such workers as the highly exacting accountant who can’t understand why everyone isn’t more efficient, or the top-producing salesperson who tramples others in a self-absorbed route to a deal. They debilitate group morale just like Owens has.

“You find these kind of high-performers in companies all the time,” said Mitch Simon, a Southern California executive leadership and career coach. “They produce great results, but also are very disruptive. And hardly anybody knows what to do with them.”

The TOs of the business world do not get as much public attention as a superstar football player in a high-profile snit, yet their on-the-job antics can be every bit as disruptive in the workplace.

The high-performers who march to their own drummer in the corporate world often find other ways of alienating management and co-workers, said William A Eddy, an attorney and mediator with the National Conflict Resolution Centre and author of the book High Conflict Personalities: Understanding and Resolving Their Costly Disputes (Eddy).

Eddy said that when management confronts these people with their disruptive behaviour, the people choose to share their feelings with co-workers.

“One of the traits of high-conflict people is to include everyone in their dispute,” Eddy said. “They think they are being singled out, and that’s troublesome because it drags the whole company into a dispute and distracts it from its business.”

Rarely do these workers understand their disruptions. They often are so focused on their work goals that they don’t appreciate the impact on the people around them.

It often falls on the employee’s supervisor to come to terms with high-performers who can be disruptive. It comes with the job description to figure out a way to motivate and manage employees, yet few are well-trained for the high-performers with severe character flaws, Simon said.

“It takes a lot of energy and lot of background to deal with people like this that you supervise,” he said. “Most managers don’t have the skills they need for handling this.”

He urges managers to make certain first that the disruptive person is worth the effort. Then, he urges supervisors to spell out the problem directly and provide details of how others view them.

Most importantly, Simon said, is to make sure the person is aware of the consequences he or she will face should they continue to their behaviour.

People who produce good results often find themselves with broader latitude for their flaws than others.

That’s where Owens gets a wide berth.

He possesses an extraordinary talent on the football field that has overrun his criticism of teammates, his holdout before this season even though he was already signed to a long-term contract, and social behaviour. Even today while he’s serving a suspension from the Eagles, other teams are likely eager to obtain his services.

But George Howard, a San Diego employment attorney, said many companies fail to address improper behaviour in high-performers until it develops into a legal issue.

“It’s human nature that the people who are the producers can get away with things you wouldn’t accept from lesser performers,” he said. “And some people have talents, skills and creativity that you tolerate more.

“If you have a line supervisor who is beating down people with abusive behaviour, that’s easy to see and easy to deal with. But what about the software developer who is rude, you can never find them in the office, but they are up working at 4:00 am. They are creating something that others can’t, and you’ll put up with more from them.”

Simon said the best way for managers to deal with troublesome yet high achievers is to be direct with them.

“You can’t just ignore their faults, but they won’t necessarily see those faults even if you spell them out,” he said.

He suggests describing what the employee has done to rub others the wrong way, making them aware that co-workers are concerned by the behaviour.

“They still won’t understand, but they will know that it is real,” he said. “Then you have to tell them that if they continue to act this way, there will be consequences and identify those. They understand consequences, even though they won’t understand what they are doing wrong.”

Often, however, behaviours are sidestepped until it is too late, said Bertram Edelstein, a San Diego industrial organisational psychologist.

“It’s unfortunate; some companies don’t know what to do and they wait too long,” he said. “By that time, a lot of damage has been done and feelings are hardened. It may be too late to address this.”

He also is skeptical of people changing much at all.

“People change when there’s a crisis,” he said. “If they feel they are going to lose their jobs or lose a promotion, it will cause them to take it more seriously. But you really can’t count on them changing much.”

Ultimately, it is the company that employs the troublesome people that determines whether the workplace performance is worth the hassle of managing a thorny employee.

Some of these workers get fired and repeat their behaviour at the next company. Others find a way to balance their behavioural issues to retain their jobs.

“Only the companies can decide whether these people are worth it,” Simon said. “Everyone is different.”

Yet, Howard argues that every worker faces termination if they don’t choose to go along with corporate demands.

“It doesn’t matter how talented you are,” he said. “At some point, you have to play by the rules.”

How to cope with difficult employees

Southern California career coach Mitch Simon offers these tips for dealing with a difficult but high-performing employee:

. Make sure the rescue value is worth the effort.

. Tell the employee very directly how his behaviour affects others.

. Explicitly describe the consequences of his actions.

. Be prepared to penalise the employee as you had warned him.