Are you a rockstar or a super star? Or do you know? What about for those on your team?

A few years ago, as I was reading Radical Candor, I had a rather unexpected a-ha moment. I was expecting to read about her feedback model, but in one section, author Kim Scott described rock stars and superstars. Rocks stars provide stability for your team. They are happy in their position and want to execute well. Scott further describes them as on a gradual growth trajectory. On the contrary, superstars have a steep growth trajectory and tend to be ambitious and seek change.

Typically, we tend to recognize the superstars as we see them as ambitious, and we tend to ignore the rock stars. Many people have an unconscious bias towards ambition as we positively associate ambition with success and excellent performance. We also somewhat subconsciously view rock stars as lacking ambition and as a result, lazy or lacking motivation.

The challenge, however, is that we need both of these groups to form a strong team. Imagine you have a group of superstars: full of ambition and looking for the next challenge and opportunity to grow. They will learn and tackle new things, but they won’t stick around. They want to be moving up in the organization. You need the rock stars to balance the team, as they will still be around when the superstars move on to the next opportunity.

People can go through different phases where they switch between the two types of stars. Think about a time when maybe you wanted to constantly learn and be challenged. Is there a different time when circumstances didn’t make constant challenges realistic? Maybe you had a young family, or someone close to you who needed extra attention, or you were balancing work with school or other commitments.

Sometimes, people just want to focus on delivering on what they do really, really well. We often think that the only way to reward these people is to promote them, but if they are not interested in that new role, then you are setting them up to fail.

Understanding whether each person on your team is a rock star or a superstar is important to understanding how to manage them.

With your superstars, you want to ensure they are always learning something new or being challenged in some way. Set them up in job shadow or mentorship programs where they can learn more. During one-on-one discussions, clearly identify their career path and determine what they need to do to meet the next milestone. Ensure you have a succession plan for them, including knowing who may replace them and facilitate training for that person. Superstars will leave you; you need to be prepared to replace them.

For your rock stars, give them time and space for them to execute their work. You can utilize them to help train others and they can make great mentors. Stay out of their way and don’t promote them into a position they may not want. Reward them fairly.

Managing a team can be challenging; knowing what each person wants and needs from you helps you lead them well. Additionally, reflect on which growth trajectory you are on, so you can ask for what you need too.

Check out my Resources Page to see more from Kim Scott (you can browse, or scroll to the bottom and filter by Author).