Robert Kelley, with his book, “How to Be a Star at Work” did
me a tremendous service - he made me rid myself off a demon called self-doubt and
made me feel completely empowered as a professional. If you haven’t read his book, I wouldn’t
blame you for thinking that it is one of those self-help books that is full of
flowery prose and utopian ideas. But in
truth, Professor Kelley’s book is a far cry from that. More on that in a bit. First, let me give you a bit of history to
provide some context. Actually, it’s not
“his-tory.” It’s my story!
As I look back on my days as a student, I think it is safe
to say that I was a much better and wiser student at 27 (during my business
school days) than I was at 17. I hit
some purple patches as a student in middle school but in high school, I was
very mediocre (and, that might sound charitable to those that have known me
during those years!). The frustrating
thing for those that cared about me was that they all knew that I was capable
of much better things than my grades suggested.
As I started excelling in school during my undergrad years and later as
a graduate student, I knew one thing for sure.
A good work ethic- under the watchful, supportive eyes of my parents-
was one key difference between my good and bad years as a student. During my five years as a software engineer,
I continued to have a fairly good work ethic and it definitely stood me in good
stead. But it is one thing to work hard
and another thing to work smartly.
During my years as a software professional, I had the mindset of a good
student that would work on things assigned to him and (mostly) completed his work
on time. I used to be happy with my work
but on days when things were not great at work, somewhere within, there was a
gnawing feeling. Would my work ethic,
which had transformed me as a student during my undergrad years, be good enough
to make me realize my full potential as a professional? I hadn’t quite found the answer to that
question when I decided to return to school to pursue an MBA. At this stage, I used to (literally) have
nightmares of my high school days and would get dreams such as not finishing an
exam on time and failing big time! I
smile now as I think about it but I certainly didn’t smile when I went through
those days and nights of self-questioning.
Going into my MBA after having worked for five years, I knew
that I was interested in marketing and I wanted to get an education to
supplement my interest. But I also knew
that I was looking for something more than marketing courses. I wanted an experience that would change my
attitude as a professional. In the
confines of a school, I had a safe environment in which I could take chances,
learn new things and even fail honorably if that meant that I learned something
in the process. As I introspected on my
prior years as a student in the US, I realized that I had a fear of failure and
was obsessed about grades. During
business school, I kept repeating to myself that I had quit my job not just to
get good grades but to find professors and peers who would help me discover
things about myself and evolve as a professional. Good grades had to be a byproduct of a sound
learning experience. There was going to
be no two ways about that. That was when
two people changed my life forever. One
was Randy Pausch, whom I have written about and spoken about at multiple places. The other was Robert Kelley. Professor Kelley taught a class called, “Developing
Star Performers.” A second-year student
had casually mentioned that it was a very “different” course. It was one of those electives that I was on
the fence on at the time of signing up for different courses. But I decided to take it anyway since the
title definitely held intrigue!
On Day 1 of this course, sitting in a huge auditorium amidst
60-70 other students, I was eager to see the kind of tone that the Professor
was going to set. Was this going to be a
series of platitudes about star performers?
Since the reading material for the course was his own book, would this
course just be an advertisement for his book?
Or, was it going to be something else?
Well, 20 minutes into the session, I knew the answer. He started off with a quiz on star performers
vs. average performers. He asked us to
answer True/False to a series of statements.
Statements such as, “Star performers have higher IQs than average
performers.” “Star performers have better
innate leadership qualities,” etc. Once
we took the quiz, he blindsided us with something. He said that all those statements were false! Amidst a bunch of “what the heck” responses
from students, he said something that changed me as a professional forever. What
separates star performers from the rest is not what they have but how they use
what they have. Pause to read that
line again since my entire write-up is a tribute to Professor Kelley for having
come up with that. This was the set up
for a discussion of the “star performer model” where he listed a set of
important traits and behaviors that star performers excel in, such as taking
initiative, building a knowledge network and engaging in self-management. The fact that he created this model based on
extensive research at companies such as AT&T, 3M and Hewlett Packard also
gave me the confidence that he did not pluck these out of thin air and instead,
these were observed behaviors of star performers.
Today (as of Dec 2013), having worked for nearly five years
after business school, I can reflect on my career pre-MBA (my five years as a
software engineer) vis-à-vis post-MBA and state that the years after my MBA
have been more fulfilling and rewarding.
The ghosts of self-doubt that had seeped into me during my years of high
school had only been partly exorcised during my initial successful years as a
student in the US. Kelley’s course
really was the starting point for me to get rid of the residue! Through his chapters on taking initiative and
building a knowledge network, he convinced me that I had it in me – just like
anyone else – to engage in certain behaviors and transform myself into a star
performer. In other words, the one that
had to truly make me feel empowered was not my manager (though a supportive
manager helps!) but really, myself. In
the past five years, a lot of the successes that I have had have been a result
of following some of the sound pieces of advice that he has provided in his
book. Though I don’t consider myself a
star performer yet, I know that I will feel a sense of accomplishment just in
my attempt to become one.
I am 32 years old.
And, I have many more years as a professional to come. And, in those years, one thing that I will
look to as a feedback loop of sorts is Professor Kelley’s book. Just in case any demons stop by to say,
Hello!
