What problems may we find in a team that contains a so-called “rockstar” ?

In recent years, teamwork has established itself as the best way to carry out a successful project, since it allows people with different skills and knowledge to connect. But sometimes this multidiscipline environment entails a series of problems.

Among them, one of the problems that we most frequently encounter in work teams is that one of its members is considered better than the rest (a “rockstar”). The profile of this “rockstar” usually corresponds to people with a fairly large ego and an excess of confidence in themselves. They are not usually open to new ideas, tend to monopolize the conversations, consider that the only valid opinion is theirs and that they prevail over that of others without listening to the opinion of their peers. Thus becoming a barrier to active listening and fostering derogatory attitudes in front of the rest of the team. This will end up creating tensions in the team and generate long-term conflicts.

In fact, it can be very difficult to work with this type of person because as we have said, they are not able to perform active listening and instead of paying attention to others, they are thinking what they are going to say next without really listening to other ideas or opinions. Quite often they have already formed an opinion and they do not give value to the contributions of their peers, therefore, it becomes very difficult for them to consider that their own proposal might not be the best.

Dealing with this type of character is not easy. It is necessary to avoid that this type of profile self-proclaim as a leader and drag down the rest of the team, while imposing their proposals. This situation would generate a lot of frustration with the rest of the team and ensure their loss of involvement with the project. In these situations, we have tools such as moderating the meetings and marking the turns of the floor, allowing all members to express their opinions, ensuring they are heard and taken into account by those at the table. Once the different points of view have already been discussed among all team members. It must be clearly defined what the processes are and the tasks that each team member must carry out. In this way, the proposed solution emerges from the team as a whole, thus increasing the involvement and sense of responsibility.

This approach may not work for everyone, and sometimes letting the employee go is the only option. Laying off an employee is always a last resort for any company, but unfortunately it is at times a necessary step in ensuring the comfortability of your team.