94 Ten Strategies for Leading at The Edge portant to act in a way that avoids isolating the individual and that gives him or her a chance to recover. Bob, for example, was head of R&D at a leading chemical company. Bob had a star performer on his team--a re- search chemist responsible for some of the firm's most innovative, cre- ative, and profitable new products. In accordance with organizational goals, he rewarded Charlie (not his real name) with a promotion to se- nior management. Not long afterward, however, Charlie's performance began to suffer. Accustomed to hands-on work, Charlie was lost when it came to super- vising a research staff, and his administrative abilities were severely lack- ing. Not only was he failing to develop new product ideas, he was also hindering the ability of his staff to do so. Bob confronted the problem, but he dealt with it in a constructive way. Rather than reprimand his colleague, Bob recognized that the com- pany and Charlie would be better served if Charlie were freed from daily management responsibilities. Bob created a position that had comparable status to senior manager. As "senior research fellow," Charlie returned to