In 2008, Darrell Scott was the most highly recruited running back in the nation. He had the world at his feet. Then he went to CU and struggled (this post really isn’t about CU Football, I swear). Injury and other issues mounted. His uncle left CU to go to UCLA. He tried to continue on but evidently it was all just too much. He informed his coaches that he was transferring via text message. So what can managers learn from this? Lots.

Confrontation - no one likes to confront issues but it is part of growing up and maturing. Talent misused - When talent is not used properly they will get frustrated and eventually leave. Other stars leave - sometimes it just takes one person to leave to be the accelerator to others leaving.

First, confrontation, we have all dealt with bosses or peers who just shied away from it. In fact, I would say most people don’t like confrontation. It’s tough but if you are in a leadership position you need to be able to deal with it.

Second, when a star is not fully utilized they will quickly get frustrated. They’re used to being the star meaning they are used to being utilized. Jim Collins said it this way: “They want to be part of a winning team. They want to contribute to producing visible, tangible results. They want to feel the excitement of being involved in something that just flat out works” This statement is more true than Jim Collins probably realized as he wrote it.

Last, other stars leave. I have been in the position in the past where it took just one person leaving for me to give up and move on. Sometimes when a star sees someone they respect leave, they feel they need to do the same. Maybe they really only had a connection with that one person and were being motivated by that one person or maybe they just know the lead rat is jumping ship.

Bonus time: Usually, star players are vocal. When a vocal person goes silent, as a manager you need to worry. This is a very visible change in a person that a leader should be able to pick up on.