I’m sitting in front of my laptop with my suitcases half-packed for Milan. But I’ve been thinking: the overlooked rockstar is a manifesto I could write.
“Overlooked rockstar” is the term I use with the people I work with to describe the reliable employee whose praises go unsung: the one who always gets the job done, fits in with every team, produces excellent work and never poses a problem. Overlooked rockstars come, get the job done, and head home. And they might reply to a few emails while they’re at it.
Hold that thought.
About ten years ago, I read an article that deeply resonated with what I was going through at work at the time: the case of the brilliant jerk. The article described people who are totally unfit to work within a team or collaborate, creating drama and tension wherever they go. But here’s the kicker: instead of facing any consequences for their actions, they’re left alone by management, simply because they’re good at what they do.
Now, what does this tell the rest of the team?
Here’s what I took away back then. As an overlooked rockstar, it’s as if the business is telling you: “Look, you are not creating problems, you are solving them. I can rely on you. Now, let’s go calm down the brilliant jerk so that we can all have a good day, shall we?”
Everyone walks on eggshells around their “brilliance.” These jerks decide the emotional temperature of the entire office, and they’re fully aware that they’re above the people in charge.
The outcome?
The overlooked rockstars (at least, the ones who still have it in them) start looking for another job. They find it. And there, they might meet a new version of the brilliant jerk. Will they leave again? Adapt and work around it? Start their own business?
And what does the company lose? Not just a reliable employee. It loses the knowledge that walks out the door and the person who quietly held the team together, and it leaves a lesson behind for everyone who stays: being reliable doesn’t pay, but being difficult apparently does.
Here’s what’s in my Overlooked Rockstar manifesto:
- Just because I’m self-regulating and not becoming a problem at work doesn’t mean I should be overlooked.
- Just because I’m reliable and get the job done doesn’t mean I should end up with everyone else’s unfinished tasks. Their failure is not my punishment.
- Just because I do great work quietly doesn’t mean it speaks for itself. I owe it to myself to take up space: I’ll say what I did, in the room, out loud.
- Just because I’m a rockstar at what I do doesn’t mean I’ve arrived. I keep growing, so I’m not shaped by the space other people allow me, and I work on myself to set boundaries no one gets to trespass.
I’m going back to my half-packed suitcase.
And I guess there’s a nice symbolism there for the overlooked rockstars on your team, looking at their own half-packed suitcases on their way to the next job. If someone just came to mind, they’re still in the room with you. For now. Ask them what they’ve been working on, and then really listen. Then take action.
