When you become the office star

Being on top is overwhelming when you know your hard work and dedication have paid you the most deserving reward. Receiving a star tag is not easy. Behind the shimmer of this lies the sweat and blood that one has put in and sacrifices endured towards the journey. Hence, the result tastes the sweetest. The success in corporate world does not end here but the real expedition starts after one has been labelled a star. Surviving the title, however, is the ultimate challenge.

Increased work pressure

The professionals at the receiving end get very little time to enjoy the success, as many other, new job roles fall in their kitty. The roles and responsibilities suddenly increase as do the teams they have to handle. That individualistic output, is now a collective result of the team. Hence, the need to supervise and manage roles of their subordinates intensifies. Managing a team of people with different roles, opinions and backgrounds can be very tiring. Thus, the star performers may feel high pressure at times.

Adverse effect of the label

Sometimes this success gets on head and the person loses his/her self in the pride of newly acquired power and post. The ‘star’ may come with arrogance and selfishness, and may turn a person into a negative for the team performance. The fear of losing the title might make a person insecure and lead him to act unjust.

Talking about how success can adversely change a person, Ashok Aggarwal, CEO, Essel Infraprojects Ltd, says, “Nothing is permanent in this world, including any kind of 'tag' or ‘label’, how so ever significant one may believe it is. Stay focused, stay humble. ‘Fear of fall’ is not unusual, but if you keep doing what you love, distractions will automatically be marginalised. Both success and failure are temporary anyway. So,it is worthwhile to be equanimous in either scenario or any scenario for that matter and enjoy the life irrespective. Life is existential and physical body is mortal. It is changing every moment, whether human body and mind likes it that way or not. That's the only immortal truth and eternal law of nature. Why suffer for the fear of losing something as insignificant like a label or a tag! That's the best attitude to my mind, if at all, one should have to be able to hold on to ‘the label’ little longer.”

Ways to retain and grow further

A star titled professional is looked upon with respect and admiration in the organisation. He or she becomes the role model for many, impacting the work culture. Hence, staying positive with superiors as well as subordinates can help them earn goodwill for lifetime and also increase the productivity of the team(s). This way they can retain and climb success ladder further.

Explaining this, Praveen Jakate, chairman and managing director, Hershey’s India, said, “Successful leaders create a non-threatening and a non-critical environment for their teams. A sense of urgency is critical for a high performance organisation. However, exceptional leaders create a sense of positive energy and a compelling vision that motivates employees to go that extra mile. A successful leader also needs to listen and learn – often from his / her team members. Winning teams have strong functional expertise and the leaders’ job is to harness that individual expertise to deliver shared business objectives. In my role, I gained tremendous insights into doing business in India from my team members. The success of our turnaround strategy was not driven by what I knew or did. It was driven by leveraging our collective knowledge and strength to devise a well thought through strategy followed by relentless focus on excellence in execution.”

A true leader becomes an inspiration. You never know but many must be following you. So, learning from others irrespective of position justifies the star title. A beautiful quote from John C.Maxwell sums the topic well as it goes saying, “Leadership is not about titles, positions, or flowcharts. It is about one life influencing another.”   

...& ANALYSIS

• Intense pressure and pride of power may impact the star performers’ efficiency and their team performance
   
• But if success is handled well, best employees can turn into an inspiration for the entire organisation

The writer is executive coach & owner of www.thechrysallis.com