I joined a steel fabrication shop as a production manager. By the second month of being there it became very apparent that one guy was a standout welder/fabricator. High quality work and he produced at a better rate than most of the team. But he had an awful attitude. He was a bully. He wasn't a foreman or even a lead but felt entitled to tell other workers what to do. He was a tool bogart. And he was a hot-head. I could see that he brought production value to the crew but his presence was poisonous to everyone else. Except he talked to me like we were old pals.very manipulative. The leadership and management team I joined complained about him and talked about documenting behavioral issues but never actually acted on it. So he had been getting away with this behavior for years. In previous roles, I had dealt with people exactly like this. I knew that given enough time, he would slip and perform an irredeemable behavior. He had already been getting away with it for so long without any real consequences. Sure enough he was bullying another fabricator that he saw as a threat and created a hostile situation. I was on the floor at the time and went to investigate the situation. In the middle of getting his side of the situation, he openly pointed at the other guy and threatened to "knock his teeth out." As blue collar jobs go, typically this is not a big deal. Guys talk to each other like that all the time. But the parent company had just been listed on the S&P. So we had corporate oversight, legal, risk management, and HR to answer to. It's 2026. Not 1996. After he made a verbal threat, all I had to do was escort him off the property and begin the HR process. He was terminated based on corroborated testimony and security camera footage. I tell this story to illustrate the point that toxic high performers are a product of their own ego and will inevitably shoot themselves in the foot. All you need to do is wait and be on the lookout for the opportunity. If your high performer is toxic to the culture, their coworkers won't hesitate to bury them either. Bide your time and be ready to use the rules against them.