If you’ve been in leadership roles long enough, chances are you’ve had to manage top performers. It’’s not an easy task, and mistakes can cost you dearly.
I’ve learned that lesson the hard way early in my career. Antonella was one of my rock stars. I mismanaged her. Eventually, she left, and it took us incredible work and time to recover.
Antonella was your typical top performer. She took on the most challenging projects, constantly pushing forward despite adversity. We all relied on her when things became difficult.
I’d admit that Antonella was not easy to get along with—her low tolerance for incompetence, slowness, or lack of excellence made for tense conversations.
Over time, she grew convinced that she knew better. She became a jerk, and her insidious, toxic behavior started to take a toll on the team.
As her manager, I had to balance between closing my eyes on Antonella’s growing abuse and losing the trust of the team or calling her unacceptable behavior and risking losing her.
I chose the latter. I guess most leaders would have done so, too. Confronting Antonella for her abusive behavior was the right thing to do. Yet, things took a turn for the worse.
Antonella soon lost confidence in me and the team. She stopped pushing the boundaries and did just the minimum to stay afloat. She jumped on another opportunity, and in just a few weeks, she was gone.
Saying I was taken aback would be an understatement. I elusively thought I’d be able to find that balance between Antonella’s and the team’s performance.
I didn’t realize back then that we lacked the foundations for Antonella to blossom as a top performer.
Since Antonella left, I’ve had my dose of top performers. Over time, I’ve learned how to create an environment that gets the best out of these top performers while benefiting the team.
Here are a few principles I now keep in mind when managing top performers:
#1 Seeking personal insights
It is the most important rule. I take the time to step back, unwind, and talk to my top performers, getting into their minds to understand them better. It helps me uncover their values, fears, preferences, and expectations.
#2 – Nurturing their growth
I’ve learned how critical it is to give my top performers room for experimentation, letting them push boundaries and pursue impactful work. I’m here to support them whether they want a sounding board for their ideas or need to analyze the unavoidable mistakes they’ll make.
#3 – Making them visible and emotionally invested
Most of us appreciate being involved in decision-making processes and aligning on shared purposes. It’s especially true and impactful for top performers. It helps foster their emotional connection to work. I also typically couple it with extending their reach beyond team boundaries, giving them more organizational visibility and impact.
#4 – Handling Overload and Boundaries
More than anyone else, top performers are prone to burnout. So, I’m trying to ensure a fair workload distribution and avoid over-reliance on top performers for crisis management. I’ve also learned to emphasize teamwork over individual success while fostering respectful communication.
I’ve gone a long way since that fateful day I lost Antonella.
With experience, I’ve realized that by investing in forming a deeper connection with my top performers, I could personalize their experience and maximize their contributions.
Moreover, I could do it while lifting the whole team on our long and winding path to excellence.