Do you want a boss who is a competent jerk or a lovable star?

It is a universal truth that criticising colleagues and bosses is basic to all work cultures although it hurts to admit it. A recent study found that the most talked about, rather criticised, in any organisation is the boss and its HR practices.

Most of us would agree that this practice often becomes a key recreation in the work environment where our wounded imagination and malicious wishes go in all directions. The bosses who are criticised and hated far outnumber the lucky few who earn the hallowed respect.

Faltu Boss! Arrogant Boss! Kichhu Bujhe Na! How often do we hear all this! However, the gap between perception and reality is a matter that is too often ignored; it is a grey area that renders close inspection for the optimum benefit.

A study conducted on 10,000 work relationships in five organisations by Tiziana Casciaro and Miguel Sousa Lobo of Harvard Business School and published later by Harvard Business Review, classified work partners into four archetypes: the Competent Jerk (mostly avoided), who knows a lot but is unpleasant; the Lovable Fool (mildly wanted), who may not know much but is a delight to work with; the Lovable Star (desperately wanted), who is both smart and likable; and the Incompetent Jerk (desperately avoided), who is neither capable nor likeable and keeps the gossip mill the busiest!

From our work life experience, being drawn to a Lovable Star is natural and comes automatically. Similarly, the aversion of working with the Incompetent Jerk comes as no surprise. But the problem starts when people prefer the Lovable Fool over the Competent Jerk.

Recently, I carried out a voting on the above matrix as a part of my Facebook Live! It reaffirmed the original study carried out in 2005 which resulted in the general preference for the Lovable Fool over the Competent Jerk. Does that mean, we prefer likeability over competency? The answer is not so simple.

At different stages of organisation transformation, it needs a different set of competencies. In other words, these jerks and fools and stars, with their own unique broods, tantrums and antics, are all integral to the growth of a company.

A large majority of people like the Lovable Fool who can bridge gaps between diverse groups that might not otherwise interact. Their networking skills can significantly improve the company's engagement with the disintegrated people who work in silo. So, in certain contexts, an organisation needs the Lovable Fools to bring and hold it together.

The risk with this group is that they often drive likeability at the expense of job performance which can make them vulnerable to downsizing when the need for engaging the team is over. To get the most out of them, leaders need to protect them and put them in positions that don't waste their bridge-building talents.

It may not be easy to upgrade a Lovable Fool to a Lovable Star by coaching or mentoring alone. This group needs to focus more on functional skills by attending functional as well as on-the-job training.

In case of the Competent Jerks, often their expertise goes untapped by people who just can't put up with them like accountants, engineers, researchers etc. But they can be conditioned by social engagements, professional coaching or by being held accountable for bad attitude.

This group is also called the backbone of the organisation as they are needed in every phase of the organisation's development. The potential of this group to shift to Lovable Star is likely to be high with professional coaching and mentorship.

Our five fingers are not the same in terms of shape, size and functionality but we can't do without any one of them. Likewise, an organisation needs all types of bosses. Using such a model would help us to create more Lovable Stars in the organisation and achieve business goals more efficiently, as the direct relationship between the number of Lovable Stars in the organisation and its overall business performance is undeniable.

The author is a telecom and management expert.