Identify Rising Stars on Your Team

Rising stars are quick to understand their roles, they deliver outstanding results, and they require very little guidance.

Your team members who are in the upper right quadrant of the leadership matrix are your exemplars. One type of exemplar is your rising star. Rising stars are your future leaders. They’re eventually going to be taking over your role. These people require very little leadership capital investment, and they deliver great results. They’re typically quick to understand their roles, they deliver outstanding results, and they require very little guidance or assistance from you as they do their work. They actively seek out new growth opportunities.

There are some pretty easy ways to spot a rising star. First, they make a strong early impression. You put them in the role and they’re on their way. They’re dedicated, they have a strong sense of pride of ownership in their work. They quickly master their role and deliver high-quality results. They’re always seeking out new ways to improve their role, as well as pursuing growth opportunities to improve themselves. They volunteer and help out other people, and a lot of times people from other organizations are going to try and recruit these people away from your team.

I was very fortunate to have a rising star on my team at one point. I brought him in to run one of my business units. One of the first things he did was say, “Mike, give me a couple of weeks. I’m going to come back to you with the strategic plan.” Two weeks later, he came back with a very buttoned-up strategic plan that laid out the next three years, the major initiatives he was going to pursue, and the resource allocation for how he was going to get it done. He then went on to build very strong relationships with every member of his team, as well as the external business partners he worked with. I knew for this individual I could step back, not put in a lot of time and energy, and just get out of his way and let him deliver those outstanding results.

If you have a rising star on your team, make sure you spot them early and give them the space to grow and deliver the results that you expect.

Want to learn more about developing your team? How about taking an entire course on it? Check out the video below to learn more about the course and get started. Or you can go directly to the course and start learning how to assess and improve your strategic plans. The entire course is available at LinkedIn Learning. Enjoy!

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