3 Lessons For OVERachievers In UNDERachieving Environment “A Star Within A Cow Herd”

“Star” employees are not always rock stars who ask for caviar to get out of bed. They are also not always emotionally stunted high-performing operatives. Sometimes, all they need are essential conditions to operate, but that requires some changes the management/owners are simply not ready for.

If the said star cannot build their own company in pursuit of a workplace they can contribute to, if they are less than fortunate, they will encounter:

#1 A Herd Of Simple Cows

“Star” is trying to fix something that (according to management) is working well enough. Not every system needs an improvement; some have reached an optimum that needs to be maintained. These companies have maximized their possibility for growth as is. The demand is secured; employees are not in business development but delivering the contracted job (which sooner or later becomes monotonous). Their brains begin to collect dust, and they adopt the mindset of a government employee working at the counter for reclamations.

Since the management is not trying to achieve anything, their only objective is to keep the title and perks. The star’s struggle stems from the fact that they are trying to move a sitting cow in the BEST part of the meadow.

The cow understands that getting up will only worsen things for her.

The star’s mistake:

The star’s mentality is in striking opposition to the cow’s mentality. They can not comprehend that the cow's sole concern is the green grass in front and their mouth. The star is also unreasonable because it’s attempting to transform a cow into a racehorse, refusing to take a better look at its surroundings and notice that they are not at the hippodrome but in the barn.

The cow is bewildered as to why anyone would expect her to move. She is just getting ready to burp.

Lesson:

You can motivate someone already trying to achieve something - go towards a desirable outcome or away from an undesirable one. The cow is neither.

#2 “Whatever you do, don’t outsmart the boss/their family members.”

This is a frequent pain point in family companies. The problem happens when the star steps foot in a business built to be someone’s wife, kid, brother, sister, or_____ recreation. That business/sector/product was never supposed to be profitable but to get someone off someone’s back.

The star’s mistake:

The star thinks it is their job to get it to work. Two possible scenarios:

1. Business is a lesson for the person who is supposed to learn that they do not have the capacity for this. Some people can afford expensive toys. It was always supposed to fail, and the star is making that difficult and prohibiting the lesson from being successfully delivered because they are covering up for the lousy pupil.
2. Business as an ego sandbox to protect the profitable business. The point is to keep the company afloat, but barely. At the group level, the profit loss is of minor significance. The star is serving their talent and expertise to someone who cannot put it to good use or has the interest to because they are too deep in their ego. The only outcome is making an enemy of a person who considers that it is finally their time to shine.

Lesson:

A business without clear objectives where even after three months, you do not understand what you are getting paid for, combined with the fact that it is a family business led by a family member (without relevant business experience), can fall under this category.

#3 “You are going to leave me!”

Dog owners and managers/company owners share several similarities: the need for control, obedience, and loyalty. The best ones know it and invest in personal development to rise above it. Most do not want to put in that kind of effort.

That is why most prefer employees with lower performance but lower mobility than perspective overachievers. The star becomes a source of discomfort on its own. If you add anxiety to the mix because they know the star can always quit and find something better, that is additional pressure:

“Can’t I do what I want in my own house?”

Even if it’s not a house but a company.

But on that, some other time.

The star’s mistake:

They are in a relationship with an insecure partner who is constantly accusing them of infidelity, attempting to at least control how the relationship ends.

“You will not leave me! I will leave you!”

In this situation, if the star is not fired, they will be forced to leave. Of course, nobody made them; they decided on their own.

Lesson:

Trust, respect, loyalty, and other intangible terms that mean different things to different people are imperative in these companies. Employees who leave are satanized as traitors or labeled as dead. If the star highlights during negotiations that they can always find something, these companies will steer clear. They need broken people not to be slapped by your wings.

Even if those said, wings serve to carry them for a while.

Bonus: How to interpret the owner/manager’s mindset?

Sometimes, the star is useful to the business, but they don’t get that feedback. That is why understanding how the other side thinks matters:

Owners make money from the difference between what they pay and what they make off you. If those two come close, that is not good. The ideal situation for owners/management is for stars to work under the impression that they should be honored.

The stars shouldn't think of themselves as irreplaceable. Although everyone is, someone is just more expensive to replace.

Management resolves this by sending out frequent reminders: “Everyone is equal here,” “Nobody here has your salary,” “You have not been here long enough like the others,” “Others are even worse,” “You don’t have this and that,” “You don’t have enough knowledge and experience, but we gave you a shot,” etc.

Counterarguments to these are:

• Argument: “Nobody here has your salary”
• Counterargument: Nobody will pay you above your worth. Other people’s salaries are tied to their contribution or negotiation capabilities. Whoever practices charity does not stay in business for long. If your position is not making money, it is cutting costs or solving other issues that cost money, e.g., time wasted.
• Argument: “Everyone is equal here”
• Counterargument: People who promote this are usually the epitome of inequality.
• Argument: “Others are even worse.”
• Counterargument: In my experience, whoever says this is one of the worst.
• Argument: “You don’t have this and that.” “You don’t have enough knowledge and experience, but we gave you a shot.”
• Counterargument: They would have if they could get better for the same price.
• Argument: “You have not been here long enough like the others.”
• Counterargument: Tenure has no correlation to loyalty but with the inability of one to find a better opportunity. Loyalty does not exist. What does exist is the status quo and lack of opportunities.

I will conclude with a quote I have heard from someone who invested in me when I was a very unlikely winner:

“There is always money, time, and energy. It only depends if there is some for you.”

The article is inspired by the Harvard Business Review article “Shifting from Star Performer to Star Manager,” Adama Grant’s book “Give and Take,” Margaret Heffernan's TED talk “Forget the pecking order at work,” “Dare to disagree” i “The dangers of willful blindness,” and my conversation with late Boris Trivan back in 2017.

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