How To Coach A High Performing  'Superstar'

Suggested Video: Habits of high achievers.
'My 'chair-moment' came when a child changed the way something had been done for decades (details are unimportant).

​I remember being astonished by what I call 'complex simplicity' - a series of simple thoughts that produce a quantum leap.  A way of thinking that is beyond normal.
​This child didn't just do what they were told, they applied their own logic brilliantly.  I now believe this is how superstars think.
Health and Wellness.
In almost every team I have coached (sport and otherwise) there has always been one 'key' individual who everyone acknowledges as special.  When these special people also lead the way in tangible areas like sales, goal scoring and income generation, they become superstars.  I have found that a minority are truly humble, professional and a pleasure to work with.  The majority are somewhere between Nero and Queen Grimhilde - a real handful!  It is from this background I give you my thoughts.

  • ​Stay centred and focus on things you can control:  You will not be able to change the way a superstar thinks but you can influence their actions.  Borrowing from a popular saying great performers are not necessarily wise.
  • ​Keep calm:  High level competency can come across as arrogance, disdain and criticism.  Whatever the case it is your responsibility to keep in 'neutral' and remember you are a leader.
  • Listen to the truths of others without being combative:  Superstars are not shy.  They have an opinion and are always willing to offer it.  Hopefully you can persuade them to only criticise at appropriate times and in an appropriate manner.
  • Take comfort from your achievements:  They may be the superstar but you are the leader.  You have stood the test of time and proven yourself.  Use these things to fuel your feelings of self-worth.
  • Be yourself, don't flatter:  Flattering a superstar (especially in sport) is more likely to damage your relationship than enhance it.  By definition superstars hear mindless flattery every day.  What they need is truth expressed respectfully.
  • Use your years of experience wisely:  Generally speaking I have always been more experienced than the people I am leading.  By focussing on my 'truths' I have always been able to stand my ground against the best performers (and their egos).
  • Don't allow your mind to create problems and give birth to monsters:  It is very easy to misunderstand a high-achiever. Some leaders I have observed habitually take everything as negativity and/or indirect criticism.  Do not give into this kind of make believe.  If you doubt something question it.
  • Take strength from everything you believe:  You have beliefs and an ethical framework upon which you have built your life.  Allow for the beliefs of others but stand true to your own.
  • Be happy:  After all, you have a superstar working with you and you need them.  To hijack a film quote: 'Superstars are like missiles, you have yours and your enemies have theirs'.
Suggested Video:  The Six Question Process.
In this video I really like Marshall Goldsmith's question -

"If you were your own coach what would you say?"

Together with the notion of "mutual responsibility' it allows non-superstar coaches and leaders to effectively deal with, what can be, competitive and demanding people.
Additionally I have found that the ultimate competitive situation for a superstar is to compete against themselves. This can be done either through encouraging them to perform even better or to make them accept the challenge of making the whole team perform better.
Ask the Puerto Rico, Lithuania and Argentine basketball federations about superstars. At the 2004 summer olympics they beat a USA team stacked with NBA 'superstars'.  Up to that point USA basketball had been unbeatable.  Purists might point to the players who didn't travel, a lack of outside 'shooters' and poor/hasty preparations, but having watched the games I agree with Allen Iverson who reportedly said something like; just turning up with USA on your vest doesn't mean you're going to win.

What's Next?

From the very beginning the sort of people I am describing here have been special.  In school they were the ones who were always at the centre of any mischief, appeared to pay no attention in class but always did well in the exams.  It's not easy but a leader has to find a way to harness this ability.

I believe superstars deserve our understanding and respect. Individually they operate on a different level and leaders need to accept that.  For superstars I focus on two areas of influence. 
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  1. Very few superstars achieve success in a complete vacuum. Invariably they need an organisation to recognise their talent and a team to support them. The team and the organisation deserve the superstar's respect.  This is where leadership comes in.  If the superstar sees his team as expendable and the organisation as powerless there is no future.  This is the first area of influence.
  2. Almost all superstars are competitive.  I have been fortunate enough to meet a number of NBA coaches and players over the years and one of the stories that stand out was about Charles Barkley of the Philadelphia 76ers. The only thing the coach had to do to energise a  flagging session was to make everything count.  They did it through small challenges.  It didn't matter how small the prize, simply injecting real competition had a genuine basketball superstar and his teammates 'chasing everything down'.  The second area of influence then is to find a way to make everything you do with a superstar count.
If you need help coping with your superstar(s), email me today.
Epilogue:  Coach Wooden, in his book 'Wooden's Pyramid of Success Playbook', explores the idea that it's not only superstars that become great. Always rising to an occasion and always doing the best we can and supporting others are elements of greatness.

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