Leaders naturally treat their best team members differently than others. They give them more time, attention, responsibility, and information.
When it comes to those with extraordinary talents and skills, leaders commonly give the Superstar the extra resources they need to perform at their best. Within reason, whatever the Superstar asks for, they get. Leaders smartly do their best to keep the Superstar satisfied and committed to the team.
Special treatment for the Superstar does not undermine the goodwill and collaborative spirit of the team…as long as three issues are excluded from this distinctive approach.
First and foremost, Superstars must be held to the same standards and rules as everyone else. Expenses, curfews, meeting punctuality, follow-up protocols, check-ins, and updates, and many other rules, must apply equally to everyone on the team.
No one gets to opt out or violate the existing team rules, especially the Superstar. As long as the rules are constant for everyone, team members generally find special treatment for the Superstar as appropriate and fitting.
Second, the Superstar is not spared from the feedback and evaluations everyone else receives.
Good leaders don’t pamper the Superstar by refusing to give them their honest criticisms and judgments. Nor do leaders soften their feedback or reword it to prevent hurt feelings.
Everyone is accountable to the leader’s feedback, including the Superstar.
Lastly, the Superstar can never be excused or excluded from team activities.
They must never be allowed to operate separately or apart from the team. Their inclusion in all things team shows others they are not held to a different standard because of their extreme talents.
Whatever is expected of team members regarding team activities applies to the Superstar as well.
The Superstar must be present in rehearsals, meetings, practices, walk-throughs, and every other team pursuit.
If a team leader wants to destroy team morale and the collaborative spirit it takes to create team success, all they really need to do is to allow the highest performing team member to violate the rules, not receive feedback, and exclude themselves from team activities.
This applies to athletes, actors, leaders, engineers, designers, and any team member who is exceptional at what they do.
Everyone on the team is watching to see how the leader will treat the Superstar. Special treatment for special talents becomes accepted by the team when leaders know the limits of that distinctive attention.
No matter how extraordinary a Superstar might be, the team must always matter more. Good leaders don’t turn Superstars into stupid stars.
