Lone Star Syndrome

The term coined by Morten T Hansen to describe someone who performs really well in his or her job but does not help others. Or one asks for help and is sometimes even abrasive when asked to do something for the company that does not benefit him or her directly. The problem with these people is that they can poison the organization—they set a bad example for others if executives keep rewarding and promoting them. Managers may feel that they need them, of course, as they do perform well. So it is pretty gutsy to fire them in today’s rather poor economic environment.

Personality/ work related traits of lone stars:

• Air of superiority: They feel superior in their day to day professional dealings. They undermine the capability of others.
• I know it all: They position themselves as the ‘ i know it all’ encylcopedia. They would like to jump on to the bandwagon of mini celebrity hood on the slightest pretext. They go about dropping names and showing allegiance to the who’s who in their scheme of relevance
• Insecure: They like their boss’s sole attention and are insecure with the idea of sharing that space with anyone else. They are attention seekers and can do anthing to retain that role.
• Politically sound in the corporate space, they assume that the corporate world is a minefield where they will have to work their way up through decentralized individualism than collaboration and cooperation.
• They seek followers: They clearly categorize people into followers (who idolize them) and non followers. They take on responsibility for catering to the needs of followers and constantly working against non followers.
• Short term hypnosis: They build a hypnotic cocoon around their bosses so as not to leave scope for any other upcoming lone star to obstruct his/ her growth path. They become eyes and ears of their bosses. They hypnotize with their overbearing/ addictive proximity  and also the notion that the ‘business runs because of them.’
• What is in it for me: They spend not a moment wasting the lone star time. They constantly negotiate an upward movement in their compensation, hierarchy, participation, visibility, education and all the various dimensions that they can possibly visualise. They never bring about organization reforms and changes till they don’t serve a personal ulterior motive. They consciously exploit their vantage point to the fullest.
• Well informed: They seek information about the company/ employees from all sources- formal, informal, primary, secondary so as to keep up with the notion / perception that they are truly lone stars who know it all. They would never like to pose uninformed in front of their bosses since that is what they leverage the most.
• They pose powerful to the weakminded: An organization whose top men are already in the hypnotic cocoon may mostly not have strong minded employees. I don’t mean to say that strong minded poeple will not join. What I mean to say is that strong minded professionals may not choose to stay in such an environment. The lone stars start mediating between the bosses and the weak. They refuse to let them have an independent perosnal or professional relation with the bosses. This makes them powerful and tactful in the eyes of the weak.
• They are boss’s spokesperson: They take on the responsibility of officially/ unofficially relaying communication between other employees and the bosses so that their power equation remains uncompromised. On both ends of the communication channel, they will assume the indespensable role of being the uninvited facilitators/  enablers.
• He makes his boss feels nice: It is comforting to share zone with someone who thinks you are the best. But at an organizational level it harms. You start warming upto a certain behavioral pattern that will not be consistently displayed by all your direct reports. Unfortunately, your comfort will take you to the cosy corner, thus shutting down any other channels/ wavelengths trying to communicate. Long term effects on your own personality will be damaging since you will be fine tuned to only receive a certain wavelength.
• Network at a need than a mind level: They create not very professional bonds but relationships that are parasitic….. in India also called ‘jugaad’ network. The network is not at a mutual, intellectual, professional wavelength but a directory of names and phone numbers that could be thrown in situations where he/ she feels deterred/ insecure of his own position.
• Boss’s personal all solution consultant: In case the boss does not remedy the situation at hand, the lone star will push his way through to become a life consultant. From advising the boss on personal finances, housing, schooling, relationships  blah blah blah… A complete hypnosis will be marked by a boss’s professional, social reliance on the lone star.  The lone star will in turn inform his followers about his powerful equation with his boss which will further encourage them to be wannabe lone stars.

Many of us on our upward professional journey may meet this fate. Bosses should ensure that they have their ear/ eye and mind time equally distributed in all his direct/ indirect reportees. As a boss who constantly is struggling to make time between various equally hard pressing requirements, it is easy enough to fall prey to the lone star because he is eager to become your eyes and ears. The work environment will soon be teaming with wannabe lone stars. Some tips for bosses:

• Communicate directly: Never choose mediators to carry good and bad news. Don’t reprimand people through informal channels. Choose direct forms of communication such as a meeting, con call or a mail.
• Keep your secrets: as a boss you need to be percieved as the guy who can keep your secrets. Don’t share details of the organizations appraisals, promotions, salary, layoffs, your own frustrations with a lone star. Have a mentor in life.
• Try and reach out: You need to reach out to people at your own. I know it is difficult to leave the cosy corner of communicating with a single guy but try and see, your people are waiting to respond to you.
• Don’t show personal preferences/ affiliations: We all are cut our in a certain way and we all have our likes and dislikes strongly entrenched. Try and deal with people/ situations/ adversity with equanimity.

Last but not the least, the organization should have succession planning. Don’t try and promote the culture of lone stars where you have a bee line of weaklings wanting to take on the prestigious role of becoming your eyes/ ears and hands. We all like personal assistants making us seem like demi gods but that is not the true test of life. Emerge out of the cocoon and lash out on the lone stars.