Originally found at Forbes

In an ideal scenario, high performers are celebrated for the value they bring to an organization and rewarded for their efforts through both promotion and pay. Unfortunately, corporate cultures can be marred by politics and conflicts.

Examples abound. Steve Jobs was ousted from Apple. Co-founder Max Levchin departed PayPal after Ebay acquired it in 2002. He then created Slide and Affirm to compete in the same industry.

Going further back in time, Toyota postponed promotion of Eiji Toyoda to President by more than 15 years. Waiting till 1967 to do so resulted in delayed transformation opportunities through his lean manufacturing principles. Will Durant was let go by General Motors in 1910, and became a formidable competitor by starting two automaking companies.

In all of these examples, high performers were “othered” by the organization in an “us vs. you” framing.

In almost all cases, the high performers bounced back and thrived, creating and leading other organizations.

...My research with Gilad Chen, Miriam Erez, Brent Goldfarb, Moran Lazar and Ella Miron-Spektor published in the Academy of Management Journal shows that high performing teams focus on both resource seeking and similarity-attraction strategies for their formation: team members represent differences in expertise so they complement each other and are aligned in their mindset and values. Team synergies then bloom through seamless collaboration of activities towards the joint purpose.

Continue reading the original article at Forbes.

Read the original research in Academy of Management Journal.

Read the Academy of Management Insights summary.

Learn more about the AOM Scholars and explore their work:

• Moran Lazar, Tel Aviv University
• Ella Miron-Spektor, INSEAD
• Gilad Chen, University of Maryland
• Miriam Erez, Technion—Israel Institute of Technology
• Rajshree Agarwal, University of Maryland