Are You a Star at Work?

How much (star) light do you let in?

Average performers suffer from tunnel vision: they see the world from their viewpoint, and they keep pushing that viewpoint over and over again. Star performers see things in a much bigger way. They step outside of their own viewpoint and adopt different perspectives: "How do my competitors think about this? What do the customers think? How about my colleagues? What about the boss?"

I think of perspective as pattern recognition plus experience. Think of how doctors work: Over time, they see hundreds and hundreds of patients, they build up a base of case histories, and they learn to identify the symptoms that go together. Stars build up their own case histories, they develop the capacity for pattern recognition, and they internalize the information so that it clicks together.

Perspective comes partly from experience. But it's something you can work on. After each project, ask yourself, What did I learn? Then seek out an assignment that will give you a different kind of experience - even if conventional wisdom says it's not a prize job.

Take software testing. People in the software business don't like to do testing, because it's kind of boring: You're testing other people's code and finding bugs - you're not creating anything of your own. Most average performers think of it as drudgery that won't help them get ahead. But lots of software stars do their time in testing: It gives them a chance to see a lot of products, and they can apply everything they learn from it to building their own code in the future. It's a concentrated dose of pattern recognition plus experience.

Are you a star follower?

When people hear the term "star performer," they think "prima donna." In fact, stars are very good at helping other people succeed. Followership means knowing that you can't always have the lead. You're going to be in a followership role a lot of the time, and you have to help those in charge do the best they can. Stars not only know how to stand out - they also know how to help out.

For example, when they're on a team as a member, rather than as the leader, stars know how to pitch in. They check their ego at the door. If they think the leader is going off in the wrong direction, they know how to disagree without being disagreeable - and without undermining the leader's authority with the team. Instead of taking the leader on in public, for example, they might sit down in private and say, "There might be some things that you're not aware of. Let me be your eyes and ears - just to be sure you're in the loop."

Too many average performers become preoccupied with their own needs and ambitions. To be a good follower, focus on the project's needs and on the leader's needs. Don't try to make records for yourself - try to make wins happen for the team.

Being a good follower doesn't mean sitting passively and taking orders. You should figure out what to do before you're told. Good followers are fact-finders: They find out how to do as much as they can without bothering the boss. When you work in this fashion, you gain a reputation as someone who's working for the good of the enterprise, rather than as a showboat.

Do you spell leadership with a small "l"?

These days, there is a lot of talk about leadership. but most of it is about what I call "leadership with a capital L." It's the kind of stuff that you see on all the magazine covers: CEOs promoting their big visions, their big ambitions, their big egos.

For star performers, that's not what leadership is. Stars exercise "small-l" leadership. Star performers very often don't have the power to fire anybody. They can't give out promotions, bonuses, or raises. What they have is the ability to bring people together to get things done. And they have it because of the way they work.

Stars strip away the visionary and charismatic stuff, and get to the three components of real leadership: People want leaders who are knowledgeable. People want leaders who create momentum - who bring energy to the job and create energy in other people. And people want leaders who pay attention to everyone who's involved in a project - leaders who can attract followers.

If you want to be a small-l leader, start by understanding the people who are following you: Why are they following you, what's in it for them, and how can you help them? Next, take seriously your responsibility for building momentum in the organization: You've got to have intent. Do the small things that matter - and do them in a way that shows that they matter. If you say you're going to take on a leadership role, make sure that meetings get called, that the agenda gets set, and that things don't slip through the cracks.

The important thing to realize is that you can be a small-l leader. It's not a matter of how strong your jawline is. Stars have a very action-oriented definition of leadership. If you do the small-l stuff, people are going to want to work with you.