Toward the end of my run as a full time ad agency employee, I had a creative director who was the quirkiest and (not coincidentally) least motivating boss I ever had.

The CD told another friend of mine in the creative department that they divided people into four groups (see my lovely infographic). The A group were both talented and hard working. They were golden. B was people that were talented but lazy. C was people who were hard working, but didn’t have the goods. And D was people who were neither. Their future was not bright.

Fair enough, I guess. But here’s the thing…

They wouldn’t tell anybody which group they were in.

It was up to the person to figure it out. And if they couldn’t or didn’t or had no clue there was even a scale, it wasn’t long before they were gone.

Now, I believe people are coachable. I think they can be motivated and inspired to focus, work harder and overcome their shortcomings. Look at the pro athletes who are sucking wind, then get traded to a different team and are suddenly playing at an all star level. That’s coaching. Too bad this person didn’t see it as part of their duties.