Star performers or Teamwork
The 2023 World Cup final loss was painful. I have always been a fan of teams/athletes that won trophies and medals for the country, but not of going gaga over individual milestones like most number of tons/wickets. A captain who leads by example is to be cherished - Kapil Dev, MS Dhoni and in many ways, Rohit Sharma.
There are parallels for this in the corporate world. Designated ‘star’ performers in a company or a flagship leadership program, feel entitled to the next gig, irrespective of whether the company gains from the activity or not. Excessive focus on a few star performers is risky, as the team becomes overly reliant on them and runs into the danger of neglecting others, intentionally or not. It is healthier to build a strong culture and systems that allow many contributing performers and the group to thrive collectively. That does not take anything away from individuals who have rare skills and talents that uniquely contribute to the organization. Recognizing those contributions is reasonable and should be credited with due fanfare, while avoiding fostering of personality cults. True leaders aim to empower others rather than glorify themselves. Organizations perform best in the long run when there is a shared purpose and culture, and not just a central charismatic figure. Highly visible leaders can help communicate the vision and values much better. Overall aim needs to be to build an organization for the long-term, not just one man or woman.
Creating systems where everyone has dignity and purpose is as important as avoiding extremes of personality worship or forced equality. The IPL encouraged stars. But when players came together to play for India, it has proven hard for some to take risks or develop new skills. Maybe they feel like they can't ever compete with the star talent. This might lead to competing to be the star instead of competing to achieve team goals. More resources and opportunities start flowing disproportionately to the perceived stars and this creates single points of failure. The team gets over-reliant on a few individuals and feels vulnerable if they leave. Having clear elite performers contradicts messages of equality, teamwork and meritocracy. This is not going to change and a create a champions’ mindset to encourage an individual.
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