Superstars vs. Rockstars

We just had the Grammy's in the US, today is Superbowl Sunday and in a week from now it's time for the Oscars. So I thought it's the perfect time to talk about Superstars and Rockstars. However the stars I am talking about, do not necessarily have anything to do with the Movie / Entertainment Business or American Football.

I am talking about the Rockstars and Superstars in your team. And full disclosure - I did not invent these two terms. That was Kim Scott in her book "Radical Candor. Be a kick-ass boss without losing your humanity". If you have not read it yet, I highly recommend it. I am definitely glad my Coach recommended it. Someone finally provided language for leadership behaviors, that always naturally made a lot of sense to me. But I digress.

Years ago back in Germany, one of my bosses and I got into a discussion. The department I was working for, kept hiring so called "high potentials". Colleagues that were super eager to get to the next (hierarchical) level fast. Some of them were hired, to replace me as I had moved within my role to a more international focus.

I personally felt comfortable in my role. I wanted to learn everything - about my role. All the details and all the processes. And that is what I did. At that time I was not necessarily interested in moving into another department just to get a leadership role. I wanted to get better in my role.

So the more international focus in the same role was great for me. I used my knowledge to do what I was doing before but on a more global scale. Win win for me. Now the bosses were looking for a replacement and hired said high potentials. It just did not seem to fit a 100%. And that is when my boss and I had said discussion and I told him you are looking for someone like me, but you are hiring someone that wants to take the job and in less than 6 months wants to run the show and move up. You should maybe focus on people that are interested in the job and in staying in the role for a while so they can build up the knowledge you need and you are currently struggling with in the team.

He completely disagreed and told me as a leader you always want to hire people that want to move up fast and are very eager to do so. At that time, it just did not feel right to me but I was far away from having the language to describe why. Until I read Kim Scott's book and it finally made click. She described how she learned that in a balanced team, yes, you do need "Superstars". The ones that are eager to shine and move through the ranks quickly. They can provide great energy to the team - especially, when there are future positions available they can work towards. However, you also need "Rockstars". The team members that are reliable and deliver consistently like a rock in wild waters.

I was a Rockstar for a long time. I liked my role, just had settled from a rather unsteady work life and enjoyed learning all you could possibly know to do a great job in my role. And because of that, I was always on top of all things I was responsible for. I just loved mastering my job. Replacing me with a Superstar and expecting the same behavior and results was not going to produce the same outcome.

I truly believe the biggest mistake that organizations are making, is to focus on the Superstars only. Yes, you need to foster those and develop them constantly towards their next career goal. If you don't, they will leave as the role as such is not fulfilling them. It's the next move they are thriving for. But don't forget, your Rockstars are also having goals. They want to learn and grow _within_ their role. They need the same level of your attention, feedback and development to do so and when they get it, they will pay you back with a consistently great performance.

I have seen some organizations and some leader driving the Superstar development focus over the top. In those organizations, having been in a role for more than 2 years means, you are likely going to get stuck there and might be ignored from then on for future promotions.

In my humble opinion, these roles are not in stone, but rather fluid. I was a Rockstar for a long time until I was not and then I became someone, that wanted to now use the deep knowledge and experience I had developed, to become a people leader. And I got there, bu I had to change the organization to do so. My leaders had come to appreciate my performance, but lost sight of my development. I was the reliable deliverer and they could not think of me as a leader at all. I was ready to change roles, they were not.

What about you? Are you a Rockstar and feel you should be getting more development attention from your leader? Or are you working for an organization that is already making it a point to develop both Rockstars and Superstars? Share your thoughts and experience in the comments - I would love to hear your opinion!

Oh and since it is Superbowl Sunday: GO NINERS!

If you would like to read more about me and my thoughts about feedback and leadership, I invite you to visit https://mykindofsuccess.net/ . And please make sure to leave a comment with your thoughts!