How to turn your ‘rock star’ team member into an engaged leader

Always on time, reliable, wants to learn and executes exceptionally. If that sounds familiar then you may have a rock star on your team. These rock stars are often the go-to person, not just for you, but for other team members, too. However, data shows us that underneath the high performing exterior, there’s a real chance your rock stars are disengaged.

A recent survey showed that 85% of global employees are not engaged, or actively disengaged at work. Moreover, 50% of leaders said that their employees would have an easier time finding a new role with a new organisation than they would within their organisation. And the number one reason for leaving a role was the ‘inability to learn and grow’.

Much like orchids, if you nurture, care for and provide the right environment for people, they will continue to grow and improve. Global leaders are recognising this, with 84% stating they need to rethink their workforce experience to improve productivity. And 80% believe they need to develop leaders differently.

Unless you are actively developing your people, you will lose them. Here are some ideas about how to turn rock stars into engaged leaders:

1) Provide feedback, challenges, and mentorship

As a leader, part of your role is to help your team realise their potential to grow. Do this explicitly through feedback discussions, and implicitly by ensuring you regularly provide new and challenging opportunities at work. Also, consider mentoring people outside of your team.

Tip: Kalido can help match your team members with skilled and experienced colleagues to mentor them and help them get to the next level. And by adding “mentorship” as a skill, anyone in your networks who wants to meet a mentor can find you easily.

2) Delegate more

It is just as easy for a leader to perpetually own ‘leadership’ as it is for a subordinate to perpetually own ‘execution’. Delegate more projects which you might otherwise lead by default, so that your team members can practise leadership in a caring, low-risk environment. There are obvious benefits to delegating for you, too – including avoiding burnout.

Tip: Kalido can help your staff form skilled project teams, communicate and collaborate.

3) Encourage others to drive strategy

Strong executors may struggle to drive strategy. Placing individuals outside their comfort zone and explicitly asking for strategic direction, or the strategic implications of a specific task, provides others the opportunity to lead.

Tip: Encourage your team to learn from other skilled people in order to drive strategy. On your private network on Kalido they can match with other skilled people within your organisation.

4) Put your team in the foreground

Craft occasions for your team members to present within the organisation. Presenting, particularly to large peer groups, aids visibility factor and allows people to hone a critical leadership skill. Celebrate the successes of your team publicly. Commend your team to others in the organisation, and then make sure your team knows about the commendations, so they gain confidence.

Tip: You can share the success of your team to a wider audience through broadcast messaging within a Kalido private network.

5) Invest in their personal development plan

Becoming a leader doesn’t happen overnight. And it certainly doesn’t happen with a tweak here or a pinch there. Your team members need a personalised and well thought out plan that you are both willing to invest in. One which is mutually agreed, that is reviewed and updated regularly and has metrics of success assigned to it. For a PDP to be successful it needs to be driven by the individual. Furthermore, there has to be a focus on both the organisation’s needs and the employee’s interests, passions, competences.

Tip: As your team gain new skills encourage them to add them to their Kalido profile. This will create even more opportunities for them.
Remember, your employees are your greatest asset and are one of the main differences between winning and losing. As Richard Branson once said – ‘train people well enough so they can leave, treat them well enough so they don’t want to’. As a leader, your job is to create an environment for your team to succeed. It starts by helping them realise their potential and ends with celebrating the moments when they fulfill it.