Singapore - For every leadership team, there is always a possibility of a destructive element amongst the senior leaders, yet companies shouldn't cut that person off in a hurry.

Jacqueline Gillespie, who leads Hewitt's South East Asia Leadership and Talent Consulting, says companies should never resort to kneejerk firing reactions even if that particular leader is not contributing constructively. "That might have a detrimental effect on the rest of the team. You want your actions to speak louder than words when you say you care for the entire team." That means CEOs need to care for their individual leaders.

Despite the worries of keeping the business afloat during this recession, the CEO still has to continue giving feedback to that destructive individual. It is a development process to retrain on his or her capabilities and attitudes, says Gillespie. "Yes, it would [take up time] but you still got to balance doing the right thing by people - treating people with respect [and] giving them a chance."

But there is a cut-off point if the individual appears incapable of change. She says, "In the longer term if they are not a fit for the organisation, then you would need to look at something."

The timeframe to track the senior leader's progress in changing his or her destructive behaviour should be around 30 days to three months. Gillespie says, "It takes a while to learn new things so 30 days is a bit ambitious but our key message would be getting the right people in the right place to help keep business [afloat]."

Some good processes to unite the leadership team members would be providing a common business goal, holding each other mutually accountable, making sure there are complimentary skills in the team and providing a constructive clear agenda.