How to Be a Star at Work by Robert E. Kelley 9 Breakthrough Strategies You Need to Succeed

What's it about?
How to Be a Star at Work (1999) reveals nine research-backed strategies that transform ordinary employees into exceptional performers. These techniques enable you to raise your workplace productivity, visibility and value to a new level and become the top choice for premium opportunities. The secrets of workplace excellence aren’t about natural talent – they’re learnable skills that anyone can master to join the elite ranks of star performers.


Tired of watching less talented colleagues get promoted while you remain stuck? Contrary to what you may have been told, success doesn’t come from working harder but rather from working like a star. After studying hundreds of top performers at companies like Bell Labs and 3M, researchers have discovered that the most successful employees aren’t born with special abilities. They simply use nine specific work strategies that anyone can learn.

This lesson reveals those exact strategies, from mastering initiative and networking to developing organizational savvy. Are you ready to maximize your potential at work and finally get the recognition you deserve? Then these simple, tried and tested tools are just what you need.
You know how there’s always that one person at work who seems to effortlessly get promoted, land the best projects, and have everyone singing their praises?

Well, here’s the truth: when researchers compared such star performers against average employees, they found zero meaningful differences in IQ, creativity, ambition, or any other trait we typically associate with success.

So what exactly is their secret? It turns out stars aren’t doing anything magical – they’re just approaching their work differently. The author Robert E. Kelly and his research team discovered nine specific strategies that star performers use to increase their value and visibility at work. When regular employees are taught these behaviors, their productivity literally doubles.

The first essential behavior: taking ownership beyond your official responsibilities. Consider Kathleen Betts, a part-time Massachusetts state employee who saved her government $489 million by discovering a Medicaid reimbursement loophole – work that wasn’t part of her job description.

Taking initiative means identifying important work that nobody owns – the gaps where important tasks slip through organizational cracks. Top performers actively hunt for these opportunities to help their colleagues, departments, and companies succeed.

When should you take the initiative? First, always excel at your assigned work – extra projects should enhance, not replace, your core duties. Next, focus on activities that directly affect your organization’s bottom line through cost savings or revenue generation. Lastly, initiative needs persistence, requiring personal investment to see projects through completion.

Real initiative means showing the courage to act when others hesitate, consistently delivering value beyond expectations, and building a reputation as someone who makes things better. Master it, and you’ll make yourself an irreplaceable asset at work.
The second most important tool for workplace success? Knowing who to call.

Bill Backer, creator of Coca-Cola’s famous “I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing” campaign, turned his initial idea into a global phenomenon through a carefully cultivated network of specialists.

In today’s knowledge economy, most professionals can only store about 10 to 25 percent of what they need to know in their own heads. The rest must come from others. This creates a “knowledge deficit” that separates star performers from average ones. Stars build high-quality networks that deliver answers fast, while average performers struggle alone or waste time with unreliable sources.

The difference is dramatic. When star performers need information, they get it in about an hour. Average performers wait three to five times longer, creating a compound effect that widens the productivity gap.

Building an effective knowledge network requires specific skills. First, recognize that knowledge isn’t free but operates like a barter system where you must offer value to receive it. Establish your own expertise that others find useful. Second, practice proactive cooperation – help potential network members before you need their assistance. Third, follow networking etiquette: get proper introductions, do your homework before asking questions, and always credit contributors publicly.

Most importantly, be a good network citizen. Nobody gets ahead by name-dropping at cocktail parties. Instead, think about building a good racing team, where everyone helps everyone else their destinations faster.
The third key to career success is as simple as it is hard to master: self-management. In order to get ahead at work, you need to stop waiting for your boss to manage you, and start learning to manage yourself.

Jerry Meyer, CEO of Pinnacle Brands, saved his sports trading card company during a crisis by challenging employees to take responsibility for their own productivity rather than laying off workers.

This strategy reveals a fundamental shift in today’s workplace culture. Star performers don’t wait for direction but proactively position themselves on the most direct route from their work to customer value and company profits.

The foundation of self-management starts with knowing yourself. Stars understand their natural productivity rhythms and work style. Take Josiah, a mortgage specialist who convinced his department to shift to later hours that matched his peak performance time. Top performers create conditions where they can excel rather than forcing themselves into ill-fitting molds.

Managing “flow” – that state of deep concentration where your best work happens – is essential. Stars protect this focused time by finding quiet spaces, setting boundaries, and communicating their availability to colleagues. They understand that interrupting brainpowered work is like stopping a rocket mid-launch – it wastes enormous energy getting back up to speed.

Practical self-management also means evaluating tasks by importance versus urgency, focusing 60 percent on important/urgent work and 40 percent on important/not urgent activities.

Most importantly, star self-managers take control of their career trajectory. They use their ability to take initiative to actively seek projects that align with their strengths. In this way, they’re sculpting their ideal career one assignment at a time.
Have you ever wondered why some brilliant engineers create products that nobody wants to use? Or why talented researchers spend years on projects that lead nowhere?

In addition to their technical skills, star performers understand the importance of being able to switch perspectives. They understand that mastering their craft is only the beginning. What separates them from average workers is their ability to step outside their own bubble and see their work from multiple angles.

The foundation of this skill comes from recognizing recurring patterns through deliberate practice and experience. Star performers constantly build new mental frameworks. One software developer exemplified this when she voluntarily moved from development to testing – a role others viewed as limiting. But the temporary switch actually gave her invaluable insight into how software fails and made her highly sought-after throughout the tech industry.

But expertise alone can become limiting. Star performers learn to break free from familiar approaches and seek fresh viewpoints. They actively pursue five critical angles: colleagues who offer peer insights, customers who reveal real needs, competitors who show alternative approaches, company leadership who set strategic direction, and creative inspiration from completely different fields.

One neuroscientist made breakthrough discoveries about brain chemistry by reading about immune system drugs and connecting insights across disciplines.

The practical lesson? Don’t just master your specialty – actively seek viewpoints that challenge your assumptions. Ask colleagues for honest feedback before formal reviews. Understand your customers’ actual experiences. Study your competition closely. And most importantly, regularly step outside your professional world to gather fresh insights.
Think being a follower means being weak or passive? Think again. Research reveals that 90 percent of workers spend 90 percent of their time following other people’s lead. Such followers also contribute about 90 percent to organizational success. The real question isn’t whether you’ll be a follower, but what kind of follower you’ll choose to be.

Most people dismiss followership as something to endure until they become leaders. But star performers understand an important truth: exceptional followership is a strategic skill that can accelerate your career and increase your impact.

Dave, a pharmaceutical executive, deliberately chose strategic followership over competing for leadership roles and eventually rose to vice president while maintaining strong relationships.

The key lies in becoming a “star follower” – someone who combines independent critical thinking with active engagement. Unlike “sheep followers” who passively wait for direction, star followers think for themselves while working cooperatively toward shared goals.

Star followers master five essential behaviors: they lead themselves effectively, stay committed to purposes beyond personal gain, build competence that earns credibility, exercise courageous conscience when facing ethical dilemmas, and control their egos to collaborate successfully with leaders.

When disagreeing with leadership, star followers are proactive rather than reactive, gather facts thoroughly, show courage when necessary, and build collective support when possible.

Consider followership more like a strategic partnership rather than a master-slave relationship. You’ll quickly find yourself becoming indispensable to leaders while advancing your career goals.
Have you ever worked with someone who didn’t have a fancy title but somehow made everything run smoother? If so, you’ve witnessed “small-l leadership” – and it might be the most important leadership skill you never learned.

Most of us are sold on the myth of big-L leadership: the charismatic CEO commanding from the corner office. But research on star performers reveals that this Hollywood version often fails in today’s knowledge-based workplace. Instead, the most productive workers practice a quieter, more collaborative approach.

Small-l leaders succeed through three key qualities. First is their knowledge – they earn respect through genuine expertise and proven judgment relevant to their team’s goals. Unlike big-L leaders who pretend to know everything, small-l leaders rotate leadership based on who has the most relevant knowledge.

Second is their people skills – they genuinely care about their colleagues’ goals and needs. Rather than assuming they know what’s best, they ask questions about colleagues’ goals and how the work can support their professional growth. This creates voluntary cooperation since small-l leaders rarely have formal authority.

Finally, there’s their drive – they handle the unglamorous work of actually getting things done. They schedule meetings, manage documentation, and ensure projects move from start to finish.

The beauty of small-l leadership is that anyone can practice it, regardless of rank or role. Start by sharing credit generously, asking colleagues what they want from projects, and stepping up to handle organizational details that keep teams moving forward. You’ll quickly learn that the quiet leader often proves more valuable than the loudest voice in the room.
If you’re drowning in team meetings that seem to accomplish nothing, you’re not alone. Despite the corporate obsession with teamwork, most workplace teams are proven productivity killers.

The problem is that companies pursue teamwork as a goal in itself. They throw people into teams without teaching collaboration skills and force group projects as band-aids for poor management decisions. The result? Endless meetings that drain energy while real work suffers.

But star performers have cracked the code. They treat team invitations as optional – questioning whether teaming up will advance a project goal before saying yes. They evaluate three critical factors: Does this team address something on the critical path? Can its mission be explained in two sentences? Is a team actually necessary?

Once committed, stars actively shape team success. They ensure everyone understands the mission, monitor group dynamics, and redirect discussions back to core objectives. They watch for quiet team members whose insights might be overlooked and amplify valuable contributions.

Most importantly, stars balance individual excellence with genuine collaboration. They complete their portions on time, help struggling teammates, and share credit generously. They understand that even brilliant individual contributions are meaningless if the overall team project fails.

Teamwork is amazing when it’s purposeful, goal-directed and utilizes each team member’s strengths. That’s why most successful professionals are simultaneously outstanding individuals and exceptional team players.
How often have you watched a brilliant colleague get passed over for promotion while a seemingly less capable coworker advances? Take Seth, for example. An MIT PhD in computer science, he hit a career ceiling despite excellent technical skills. He simply struggled to win support for his ideas and had conflicts with other departments.

Promotions are hardly ever about talent. Rather, they reflect a person’s ability to navigate workplace dynamics and understand unwritten rules that determine who really gets ahead.

You see, every workplace has two structures: the official org chart and the actual influence network. Star performers study both. They identify the true power holders and cultivate the relationships that matter. For instance, your boss may seem in charge, but his assistant might be the one who actually makes key decisions about raises and assignments.

Star employees notice whether open-door policies actually exist, politely check availability before interrupting colleagues, and thoroughly research issues before seeking expert guidance. They recognize that cultivating smooth workplace interactions enables their good work to flow through organizational systems.

That’s why they’re also keen to develop relationships throughout the whole organization, not just their own department. Consider that your best guide for navigating your organization might work in a field completely unrelated to yours.

Make an effort to embrace and understand your organization and its people as a whole, and you’ll begin to understand how work truly gets accomplished. With this knowledge, you’ll position yourself as someone who can handle complexity while producing excellent results.
Despite creating breakthrough technologies like VoiceMail, Luis, a brilliant software engineer at Bellcore, had presentation anxiety. This severely limited his organizational impact – even though his technical skills were extraordinary.

Unfortunately, the truth is that technical excellence alone doesn’t guarantee career advancement. The ability to communicate ideas persuasively serves as the critical skill that can elevate or constrain your professional reputation.

The key difference between average and exceptional presenters lies in audience awareness. Star performers don’t use identical approaches for every group. Instead, they analyze their listeners and tailor their message accordingly. They also emphasize narrative over data dumps – weaving engaging stories rather than rattling off numbers.

For those uncomfortable with public speaking, collaborating with skilled communicators offers an alternative path. Luis eventually learned to maintain his technical influence through strategic partnerships. Through utilizing his network’s people skills, his technical skills could shine.

This underlines the importance of networking and good teamwork. You guessed it – the core workplace skills you learned here interconnect and reinforce each other. What they all have in common, is that they demand intentional effort and realistic expectations.

Ask yourself consistently: Are these tools helping me solve important problems, satisfy customers, and collaborate effectively across departments? If so, am I using them right? Master these fundamentals, and star performance becomes attainable regardless of career stage.
In this lesson to How to Be a Star at Work by Robert E. Kelley, you’ve learned that star performers aren’t born with special abilities. On the contrary, they simply use nine specific strategies that anyone can learn.

Success comes from taking initiative beyond your job description, building knowledge networks to access expertise quickly, and managing yourself proactively rather than waiting for direction. Stars see beyond their own perspective, excel at strategic followership, and practice quiet leadership through collaboration. They approach teamwork selectively, understand organizational dynamics beyond the official hierarchy, and communicate their work effectively.

Excellence is about working strategically and positioning yourself as someone who consistently delivers value. Master these nine strategies and you too will become a star at work.

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