Superstar vs. Team: How Manager Mistrust Prevents Growth and Winning

Courtesy of Digitaler Lumpensamier

I was watching a high school soccer scrimmage the other day. One team had a “superstar” that was an excellent player. The rest of the team was average or below, or at least as far as I could tell as a spectator. The star player was everywhere, from one end of the field to the other and sideline to sideline. She did everything and her coach encouraged it. Several times I heard him actually say “take it yourself.”

But she never scored.

The rest of the team essentially watched her play the game. Although it was just a scrimmage, the team with the “superstar” didn’t win, and I don’t think they’re likely to improve during the season. They will always only accomplish as much as the one player can do. In a complete team sport like soccer, that’s not very much.

Why did she run all over the field and attempt to do everything?

One reason was because she could, but more importantly because she and her coach didn’t trust the rest of the team. She knew she could do the individual pieces better than the rest of the team and so did the coach. There’s no debate about that. But what they were missing was the fact that other team members weren’t given the chance or a role where they could perform and help the team. Even in this meaningless pre-season scrimmage. The coach was taking the easy way out, relying on the player that didn’t need instruction while ignoring the players that did. They probably weren’t given much instruction, given even less feedback, and simply written off by the coach and his star in favor of “I’ll just do it myself. And their season is likely to be over before it starts.

I see it all the time in business.

A manager will take an important project.

And a less important project.

And another, and another, until their plate is overflowing.

They know they can do it better and faster. Possibly true on the better, but over time certainly not true on the “faster.” The manger will call on them to do the projects, because they know they’ll do what they want without a lot of instruction. At some point the “star” will reach their maximum capacity. They won’t be able to do anymore. Like the soccer team, the organization will suffer. The other players that could have made meaningful contributions and developed their abilities won’t have had the opportunity. Like the soccer team, the organization will suffer. They will fail at a level far below their potential.

The organization can avoid this if they think and define themselves as a team. Identify strengths and define roles.

The role of a manager is to manage, not accomplish everything themselves. They need to give quick constructive feedback without doing the others role. Sometimes this is harder for manager than actually completing the work. It is a completely different role. It’s why often people who were superstars on the field fail on the sidelines as managers, while less-than-stellar players often make exceptional coaches.

• For marketing managers this might mean giving quick feedback on copy instead of rewriting the piece.
• For business managers it means delegating important pieces of the new product development.

This takes a lot of trust and willingness for the other participants to honestly accept their roles and know their abilities even as they stretch them. But when that happens, when you get the buy-in and understanding is when the team starts to operate like a well-oiled machine.

WHY IT MATTERS

• The marketing manager will get the ability and time to develop real strategies.
• They’ll have the time to research who their buyers really are – and pass that information on to the rest of the organization.
• The designers and writers will know who their targets are.
• The product engineers will know who uses and needs their products and how they use them. Executing their defined roles they’ll be happier and the organization will succeed.