You’ve met him or her in hallways of tech companies, creative agencies and law firms. You’ve heard the yelling and seen the tantrums. Maybe you’ve also witnessed the moments of genius or felt the queasy feeling when the much-lauded employee made another snide remark.

For the team members of one tech company, the tyrant is a software designer. While the rest of the team develops B2B SaaS solutions in the common room and bonds over personal lives, the tyrant resides in his private corner office. Every few days, he emerges, and small groups of his colleagues scatter.

“Who’s responsible for these title ideas? They’re atrocious!”

“Is this supposed to be a plan for our new soft launch?”

The tyrant, who goes by Bill, is sure he’s brilliant. Unfortunately, so are the people who hired him, and HR has indicated he’s here to stay. After all, he helped create the company’s flagship software. But, he’s also made the new intern cry and calls the company coaching offerings “wastes of time.” He never shows up for feedback meetings and is completely out of alignment with the team.

Now what?

Talented tyrants are present in just about every industry. Sometimes they are tolerated because, as a culture, we think great genius somehow pairs naturally with dysfunction. Thankfully, that doesn’t have to be the case.