Newswire: The Myth of the Lone Star
Amid mass layoffs and a deteriorating economy, snapping up star talent is getting easier. But before investing in a marquee player at the expense of the rest of your team, consider this: Stars shine brighter when surrounded by other stars.
- The Myth of the Lone Star: Why One Top Performer May Not Shine as Brightly as You Hope
by Boris Groysberg, Linda-Eling Lee and Robin Abrahams, Wall Street Journal
The idea that you can catapult your firm into the big leagues with one or two top performers is a myth -- one we call the "lone-star myth." The truth is, in the absence of equally talented colleagues, stars probably won't excel at their jobs or stick around for very long.
High-quality colleagues bring four important things to the table:
Creating Knowledge: In today's complex economy, even star performers can't master all the levels of expertise needed to be good at their jobs. That's why expert colleagues from other parts of the firm are crucial as sources of information.
Providing Feedback: Another advantage of high-quality colleagues is that they can be the most astute and valuable sounding boards and critics of a star's work.
Delivering Products and Services to Clients: In many industries -- advertising, investment banking and engineering, to name a few -- star performers rely on colleagues to position and deliver their product or service to clients. If the client-facing colleagues can't do that effectively, it won't matter how wonderful a star's work is -- it will be for naught. On the flip side, having a high-quality conduit to customers provides stars with valuable market intelligence that can improve their work.
Enhancing Reputations: Finally, high-performing colleagues can help a star's reputation shine even brighter because clients tend to think more highly of people who work for firms with a track record of excellent work. This is referred to as the "halo effect." In addition to keeping clients happy, the halo effect can benefit stars by creating greater access to resources outside the firm.
Surrounding a star with other stars is a win-win. They add that “The more stars you have, the better they will perform, and the more likely they are to stick around. To get the best of your top performers, maintain a ‘no-jerks’ policy: Stars who don't play well with others won't benefit you in the long run.” (See Robert Sutton’s The No-Asshole Rule)
* * * |
Posted by Michael McKinney at 12:04 AM
Permalink
| Comments (0)
| This post is about NewsWire
