Every manager wants a star rep.
Few think about what happens when the district starts to depend on one.
It looks healthy. The number is fine. The star wins the hard accounts, covers for the gaps, and makes the monthly review easy.
Then the star gets an offer. Or gets tired. Or simply takes a long leave. And the district finds out what it was really built on.
That risk is not the star's fault. It is the manager's to fix.
ONE STAR + A QUIET TEAM + NO BACKUP = A FRAGILE DISTRICT
What I try to do in my teams:
Let the star teach. Pair them with a developing rep. Most strong reps enjoy it more than we expect.
Bring a second rep into the key accounts, with the star's help. Doctors should know more than one face.
Coach the rest so the result is spread across the team, not stacked on one name.
And keep the star growing. A bigger role, a harder account, a first step towards leading. If they stop growing with you, they will grow somewhere else.
“A strong district has many good reps, not one hero.”
Lesson 5 of 6 in Step 6: Managing performance, with the full guide and a checklist for this week.