Following up from my post regarding unfair dismissal, there is an interesting thread over at Orgdyne at the moment regarding Diffficult Employees.
List moderator Anil Behal struck a chord with this statement:

I am struck by the notion of “difficult employees” within the organizational setting. I would be very intererested in hearing from you if you have been a so called “difficult employee” yourself, and/or managed such employees in the past. I don’t believe that there is a body of research out there that specifically looks into the psyche of a difficult employee, or from the standpoint of managerial leadership, what gets played out in her inner theatre.

Having been a rather “difficult employee” myself, at least throughout my corporate career, I’d like to see if someone can define the term “difficult.” Difficult and dissenting voices in groups and organizations often hold the systemic anxiety “for” the organization, but also run the risk of being scapegoated by the organization to somehow make the anxiety disappear. I suggest that some “difficult” employees may make wonderful, and extremely compassionate leaders, if they can somehow survive the onslaught of the organization to annihilate them.