The Superhero Pitfall
Rockstar Employees: A double edged sword.
Most startups have “rockstar” employees who turn everything they touch into gold.I’ve known people at startups I’ve worked at who moved from Sales to Product Management to Operations to Strategy roles seamlessly, doing a good job at each of them. I’ve known others who were head and shoulders above (3x above) everyone else at sales.
In some situations they seemed like Superheroes. Seemingly able to solve for challenges others simply couldn’t.
But there’s a pitfall, and every leader, team manager, entrepreneur needs to be aware of this pitfall.
Assuming you hire consistently well: If an average employee of the company is unable to get things done with at least 70–80% the efficacy of the Superhero employee, it implies not one, but two things.
Obvious: Pt. 1) Said Superhero is an exceptional talent, to be groomed into a leader. Less Obvious: Pt. 2) There are serious process, system, organizational, knowledge-mgmt related or cultural issues keeping everyone else at a fraction of the efficacy.
Focus on pt. 2, worry about pt.2.
In the long run, this is what will determine your company/team’s ability to scale up.
