Having been the young hot-shot early in my career, I can relate to the issue that many companies face of having a bunch of these on the team, especially amid the fact that we have multiple generations working together. I received a great deal of tough love, and today offer my tips for other leaders dealing with the overconfident young person joining the team:

1. Align them with a strong, successful leader who can coach and mentor them
2. Set clear and unyielding expectations for goals, personal growth and accountability for relationships
3. Stretch and test their limits with tough assignments that would exhaust even the strongest person
4. Provide candid, performance-oriented feedback on a regular basis
5. Reward accomplishments and coach for humble self-reflection and awareness when goals are not achieved
6. Measure their impact on others and constantly remind them that relationships and the process of how things get done are just as important as the outcomes
7. Coach them about individual personality differences with others and how to approach different people appropriately

In short, polish them up, and don’t try to grind them down. They may be rock stars when it’s all said and done, and you’ll want that high-potential person to stay on your team and possibly become a successor to a vital role in the organization. Remember, stars have edges.

Article by Tom Cox.