“Management is about arranging and telling. Leadership is about nurturing and enhancing.” – Tom Peters

Cultivating the “Super” in “Superstars”: the Handful of Employees That Will Make Your Business Soar 

Yes, every one of your employees is important. In some way, every one of the people that work for you – from the rank-and-file on up – contributes to your bottom line.

But there is one group – a very small group – that can do what the others can’t do: generate 80% of your sales, wring out 80% of your profits, and then grow those profits over time.

I have gotten into the habit of calling these people superstars, but I should probably call them something else. Maybe something like “phenoms,” because besides being so remarkable in themselves, they are very rare.

Not Pareto Principle rare. Not just one out of five of your employees. It’s more like one out of 10, if you are lucky. Even one out of 20.

You already know who these people are. (They know it, too.)

* They arrive early and stay late. And they work at home.

* They almost never take a day off.

* They don’t consider their work to be a job. They consider it to be a career.

* They are not afraid of new ideas. They welcome them.

* They take responsibility for any problems that crop up under their watch, even if they are not to blame.

But what makes superstars not just valuable but invaluable is that they are not only great at what they do, they are eager to take on as much additional work as you can give them. Whether it is developing successful new products, creating additional sales, or managing profits, superstars will eventually do it better than you can… and take some of your leadership burden on their shoulders.

And that’s why losing a superstar is like losing a limb. It is a disaster you want to avoid at all costs.

So how do you attract and nurture – and keep – superstars? What are the things they want and need?

1. Space 

First and foremost, they need the freedom to do their job as they see fit. You can and should give them the tools they need to do their work. And you should give them your best advice. But give them room to fail, too – quickly and in small ways – so they can learn (and teach their employees) from their mistakes.

2. Autonomy 

In a similar vein, superstars need the authority to get their job done without being micromanaged. They should not have to ask for your okay on every minor decision. Agree on the sort of reporting and feedback that you both feel comfortable with, with the understanding that you will be asking for less and less as they become more and more accomplished.

3. Challenge 

The main thing that superstars need is big and constant challenges – and it is in their nature to come up with most of them on their own. Give them free rein to learn about any areas of the business that interest them – and welcome any suggestions they may have.

4. Fair Compensation 

Superstars are not primarily motivated by money – but you won’t hold onto them if you pay them a nickel less than what they are worth.

How much is that?

I have a few rules that I follow: Their base pay must be equal to or higher than what others in their position get. In addition, they should have some sort of incentive pay based on some mutually agreeable objectives. And if they end up running an entire offshoot of the business for you, they should get some sort of shadow equity.

Just never lose sight of what’s really important to them: the satisfaction of growing and improving the business.

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