You need both Sehwag and Dravid in a team — Superstar vs. Rockstar
This week, we had the third session of the Kissflow leadership program where we listened to the Radical Candor book by Kim Scott. One of the major topics we discussed was the Superstars vs. Rockstars and here’s my thought around that.
Who are rockstars and superstars:
Rockstars are consistent performers who prefer predictability and control in their work process. They prefer to stay with the current responsibilities and may not appreciate a new role or higher responsibility. It is easy to misunderstand that rockstars lack ambitions but they establish themselves with an excellent depth of knowledge that contributes to the organization’s growth in the long term.
Superstars, on the other hand, are ambitious, don’t settle on one role, are willing to take risks, aim for the moonshot, and prefer faster career growth.
The major difference between them is the trajectory path that they are in. As per the book, the superstars travel on a steep growth trajectory, while the rockstars travel on a gradual growth trajectory. Rockstars do take on additional responsibilities but at a slower pace. It is not necessary for either of them to stick to one trajectory, they will switch to one or the other depending on their personal or career aspirations.
As per the book, here are the characteristics of rockstars and superstars.
Why both are important?
For an organization, it is crucial to accommodate both personas in a team. This enables the company to balance consistent and rapid growth.
Let’s take the example of former Indian cricketers Virendra Sehwag and Rahul Dravid.
Sehwag as superstar
Sehwag is more of a superstar who takes the unimaginable risk to score faster. He has one aim, to hit! Being an opener, he loves to hit the very first ball to the boundary. For this reason, the score either shoots up in the first few overs, or he loses his wicket. This aggressive nature and ability to score big and faster is one of the characteristics of a superstar.
Rahul Dravid as rockstar
On the other hand, Rahul Dravid aims to stay on the ground longer and accumulate the runs gradually over a period of time. Dravid mentioned in one of his interviews that switching off and finding a life outside of the game helped him gain more mental energy to play his upcoming games better.
A well-rounded cricket team requires both superstars and rockstars. One example is, Rahul Dravid and Sehwag showcased a fantastic game in 2006 scoring 410 together which became the second highest partnership runs taken in test history back then. Rahul played his natural game and scored 128 out of 233 balls while Sehwag scored 254 out of 247 balls.
Similarly, for an organization, having both rockstars and superstars helps the company grow big and stable at the same. They make a good combination and are vital to the growth of your team.
What’s the golden ratio?
If you’re a start-up requiring to grow rapidly with multiple quick wins, then an ideal ratio could be 30% rockstars and 70% superstars. Whereas if you have an established business and aiming for sustained growth, you’ll need more rockstars than superstars.
Reward — Recognize vs. Promote:
Once you have identified rockstars and superstars, it is important to recognize and compensate them. As a manager, expecting a quick win from a rockstar or ignoring big ideas from a superstar would be a disaster, so it is crucial to handle and leverage growth plans for each persona individually.
Compensation for either of them depends on their contribution to revenue, culture, and other positive impacts they made on the organization.
In a nutshell, learning to understand the mode of every employee and working out a growth plan for them will help you build a great team.
