Trying to find and hire star talent is a challenge for every organisation…

And it’s no different in our two completely different companies. An office technology & supplies business and an electric vehicle charge point installation company.

They couldn’t be more different. But like every other organisation. It’s about building a team full of people with a can-do attitude, who look out for one another and have shared goals.

Because of this I’m a sucker for any business book on the subject, which is no different for this week’s business book review title: ‘Chasing Stars’ written by Boris Groysberg.

Groysberg is professor of business administration at Harvard Business School, teaching courses on talent management and leadership, and won numerous awards for his research.

‘Chasing Stars’ is an in-depth research study showing companies who concentrate on financially luring away their competitors star talent, mostly don’t get the results expected.

The book proves…

After examining the careers of a thousand-star analysts at Wall Street investment banks, star analysts who switch firms suffer an immediate and lasting decline in performance.

Furthermore, Groysberg suggests their earlier excellence appears to have depended heavily on their former firms’ resources, organisation culture, networks, and workforce.

If I’m honest I believe there’s a few exceptions to Groysberg findings. Individuals who put everything into achieving their life’s dream from an early age, practising from dawn until dusk, and still doing the same when they become successful.

People like Christian Ronaldo, David Beckham, Louis Hamilton, Richard Branson, Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, and love him or loth him, Jeff Bezos.

These types of individuals will never quit, never stop striving to improve, and will be successful no matter which club, team, or company they are involved.

Groysberg is right for the majority for star talent though. Take Philip Coutinho who was the star player at Liverpool and Barcelona paid a world record fee. But in a different organisation, with different systems and different players his performance has declined.

‘Chasing Stars’ isn’t just focused on Wall Street investment bank personnel, it also examines how its findings apply in other organisations too. It’s an interesting read, but awfully long.

‘Chasing Stars’ gets a thumbs up and four stars.

Any questions please connect and message me

Remember, you can watch all our business book reviews at https://mytotalofficesolutions.co.uk/business-book-reviews/

…thank you & see you next week.