Are You Suffering from ‘Superstar Syndrome

By Kym Krey

If you’ve ever found yourself feeling frustrated that something that was so easy for you, seems so hard for your staff to do, listen up! You might be suffering from what I call ‘Superstar Syndrome’!

So, what’s this all about? I’m guessing that if you’re currently a business owner, or in a management or leadership role, you were once a pretty hot performer yourself, right? You consistently smashed your targets, nailed your KPIs, and excelled at all-the-things. You were a highly capable high performer. A real Superstar.

Am I right? And then one day, you either decided that it was time to take the plunge and do this for yourself, or someone tapped you on the shoulder and said, “You do such a great job. Would you like to become the Manager?” It all sounds positive, right? What could possibly go wrong? Well, interestingly, the better you were as a solo performer, the more likely you are to have challenges when it comes to your expectations, explanations, and delegation to others.

When you’ve been doing it yourself so flawlessly for so long, the specific processes involved become almost muscle memory. You’re not even thinking about it anymore. So when it comes time to explain it to someone else, we tend to leave out the important, specific details that would allow someone else to learn the process for the first time.

We also assume that because we did it, they naturally will too. We give instructions that would work for someone at our level. But you’re not employing people at your level of experience and expertise. You’re usually trying to train someone with far less experience than you, so you need far more detail to fill in the gaps. In fact, it’s your specific systems and processes that are going to support your team to grow from where they are now to where you need them to be. Your systems need to be designed for someone at their level to follow, not your level of expertise.

A common saying in management is, ‘If you can’t explain it to a 12-year-old, it’s not clear enough!’ Get it out of your head! Former high performers, in my experience, are also the worst culprits at not writing anything down when it comes to systems and procedures. Everything is in their head. Why would they waste time writing it down when they know what to do? (And yet you’re often complaining that you have to do everything, right?)

If everything is in your head, no one else can see it and follow it, and you have nothing to measure against, so you’ll be constantly relied upon to fix problems, put out fires and answer your phone a thousand times on your day off as your staff constantly call with their questions. So if you find yourself constantly reminding your staff to ‘do this’, or ‘focus on that’, and you can’t understand why it’s not happening, one of the pieces you’re likely missing is….. how!

The reality is that as leaders, we cannot expect our team to do anything that we have not:

1. Clearly explained

2. Checked for understanding

3. Gained their commitment to

Let’s begin with ‘clearly explained’:

You need to have a ‘this is how we do it here’ step-by-step process for each important procedure in your business, from the way you answer the telephone, to the way you consult and quote, receive a stock order to exactly what needs to be done at the end of the day before anyone leaves. Black and white. No vague, grey areas. No ‘they should just know’. No ‘it’s just common sense’

Not only does this start to get all of that valuable knowledge out of your head and into a format that can finally be used to train others and lighten your workload, it will make your life so much easier down the track when they eventually cut corners or get a little slack.

The process is clear. It’s either followed or it’s not. There’s no emotion. There’s no doubt.

If it’s not followed, your responsibility is to restore accountability and bring them back to your original expectation – your ‘This is how we do it here’.

Checking for understanding:

How many times have you invested time explaining a procedure and assumed that because you’d explained it, they’ve understood it? You’ve likely said something like, “Does that make sense?” “Do you understand?”

Of course they’re going to say ‘Yes’ but are you really on the same page? Chances are that you’re not.

Your job is not done when you’ve finished explaining. Your job is done when they clearly understand and can do it, and these can be two very different things.

The only way you know if they’ve truly understood is when you see/hear evidence, so try finishing your explanation with: “So that I know I’ve explained that clearly, just repeat back to me what you think I’ve said.”

And listen.

If you’re showing them how to do something, you can finish by saying: “OK, your turn. Show me what you’re going to do”

In doing this, you’ll hear straight away if their explanation is different to your intention, and you have the opportunity to correct it. You’ll see immediately if they don’t get it right and you can correct and guide them or demonstrate it again until they do get it right. So now you’ve documented exactly what you want them to do, you’ve explained or demonstrated thoroughly, and you’ve actually seen or heard them get it right, so you know they know how to do it.

If it doesn’t happen from here on, you know it’s not because they don’t know how to do it. It’s because they’re choosing not to. That’s a behavioural issue, not a training issue, but if you don’t get this right, you’ll waste time and money training and retraining (and retraining…) over and over again and not getting any closer to the outcome you need. You’re just spinning your wheels and getting more and more frustrated. Get this clear before you move on.

The final step is to gain commitment to your expectations. Just because you’ve trained someone in how to do something, doesn’t mean they have any intention of actually doing it! This is another trap for new managers. Assuming that just because you would do it, they will do it. (You’ll know if you’ve fallen into this one when you hear yourself saying things like ‘What’s wrong with this generation? “In MY day….”) Once you’re confident that they understand (because you’ve seen evidence that they’ve got it), finish by asking for their commitment to do this every time. “Great! I can see that you’ve understood what I need.

Am I going to be able to rely on you to follow this process every time?” Don’t move on until you get a ‘Yes’. When they drop the ball (and they will at some stage), you don’t retrain, you have a conversation about accountability. “Susie, do you remember when we spent that time training you how to ABC (follow this process)? And do you remember when you gave me your word that I could rely on you to follow this method every time? Well….. today I’ve seen XYZ… and that’s not quite what we agreed, is it? Is there a reason why that process was not followed?” Can you feel the energy of that conversation? There’s nowhere to hide. You’ve closed the loopholes. There is a clear expectation that can be easily measured, and you will follow up continually to ensure that there is accountability to that commitment.

So, to get yourself off the slippery frustrating slope of Superstar Syndrome, you’re going to:

• Get your knowledge out of your head.

• Create a clear ‘This is how we do it here’ process for everything you expect them to do

• Write that down (or capture it on video and create a training library)

• Explain and demonstrate it clearly and thoroughly

• Check for understanding (don’t move on until you’ve seen evidence they’ve understood)

• Ask for commitment

• Address it immediately every time it isn’t followed. (If you see it but do nothing, you teach them it’s OK) In summary, leadership 101 is….. Make it CLEAR and then make sure it HAPPENS!

Kym Krey, The Salon Mentor, is an industry business specialist helping business owners and managers nail the skills of leadership and managing their team for exceptional results. She’s the gal you’ll want in your corner when things get tough or when you’re ready to take that next big leap. Get in touch @kymkrey or grab your FREE leadership tools and resources at www.kymkrey.com.au