Teams need people who get things moving – but stars alone don’t make a team.
In many teams there is someone who takes the first step. This person names what everyone can see. They help where things are stuck and push along whatever has stalled. Someone like this changes not only their own performance but the behavior of everyone else: people pay more attention to one another and are quicker to step in for each other. That is what the image of the catalyst means.
The team principle in detail
Four steps through the principle: understand, check, connect, apply. Open any topic to read more.
The explanationThe core statement has a second half, and it is just as important.
The core statement has a second half, and it is just as important.
- A catalyst is not the same as a star.
- A star delivers individual top performance.
- A catalyst gets others moving.
- Top performance, moreover, depends more on its surroundings than people think: on well-attuned colleagues and good equipment.
Read closelyWhat the principle says – and what it doesn’t
Individuals can have a disproportionate influence on team processes – by helping, speaking up and getting things started.
- Strictly speaking
- The catalyst is not a personality type. Research describes behavior and position in the flow of work, not a kind of person. The effect is greater when the person is centrally involved.
- “One person can make a big difference” does not mean “it can’t be done without them.” What is established is that teams benefit from such members – not that every team needs such a person.
- Many stars do not automatically do harm. Where everyone works on their own, the sum of individual performances is what counts. Whether too much talent harms a tightly interlocked team is disputed.
The signs3 signs that the principle is at work · 3 that it is missing
- Someone takes the first step, and others follow.
- Helping and speaking openly count as achievements.
- The people who get things started sit where the work comes together.
- Everyone waits for someone else to start.
- The team staffs by individual performance and wonders why the teamwork never materializes.
- New top performers fall short of their former level.
The research5 sources: 3 primary studies, 1 theory, 1 critique · 2008–2021 · with research limitations
- low
- moderate
- high
Moderate – the disproportionate influence of individuals and the limited portability of star performance are established; the effect of too much talent is disputed.
- 2008Boris Groysberg, Linda-Eling Lee & Ashish Nanda
Star analysts lose performance immediately after changing firms, in some cases for at least five years. Those who move with teammates or to a better-resourced firm maintain their level.
- 2014Herman Aguinis & Ernest O’Boyle Jr.
Performance is not normally distributed; a few “stars” deliver a disproportionate share. Implications for leadership and teams.
- 2014Roderick I. Swaab et al.
In highly interdependent sports (soccer, basketball), team performance rises with the share of top talent only up to a point and then falls; in baseball, which is low in interdependence, it does not.
- 2015Ning Li et al.
A single “extra miler” (highest level of helping and voice behavior) influences mutual monitoring and backup behavior in the team, and through that, team performance – more strongly when centrally placed in the flow of work; their influence exceeded that of all the other members combined.
- 2021Bartosz Gula et al.
Reanalysis of the NBA data from Swaab et al. and of an expanded dataset: more talent always brings more success, just with diminishing returns. The inverted U-curve, they argue, is an artifact of the statistical method.
- What is established is that a centrally placed member can strongly shape team processes – not that every team “needs” such a person.
- The effect of too much talent is disputed: a reanalysis found no decline, only diminishing added value.
- Research does not support the catalyst as a personality type.
Read more: what the research shows
Research asks how strongly individual members shape team processes. Ning Li and colleagues studied the “extra miler” – the member who helps the most and most often speaks up openly with concerns and suggestions (voice behavior). A single extra miler influenced the team’s mutual monitoring and backup behavior – how closely members watched out and stepped in for one another – and, through that, team performance. The effect was stronger when this person was central in the flow of work. On the second half of the core statement: Herman Aguinis and Ernest O’Boyle Jr. describe how a few stars deliver a disproportionate share of performance. Studying star analysts, Boris Groysberg, Linda-Eling Lee and Ashish Nanda showed that their performance drops immediately after they change firms – unless they move with colleagues or to a better-resourced firm.
The originJohn C. Maxwell · “The Law of the Catalyst”
- 2001OriginJohn C. Maxwell
The 17 Indisputable Laws of Teamwork
- The Law of the CatalystWinning teams have players who make things happen
- todayExpanded
The second clause, about stars, has been added from research.
The related team principles04 Position · 09 Bench · 11 Attunement · 06 Weakest Link
The principle fits with “Position”, “Bench” and “Attunement”: the catalyst needs the central position and works through stepping in, and star performance depends on a well-attuned environment.
It is in tension with “Weakest Link” and “Bad Apple”, where the weakest or most destructive member determines the result – both hold true, depending on the type of task.
The action steps5 steps: Pay attention to who on your team helps, raises issues and gets things moving.
- Pay attention to who on your team helps, raises issues and gets things moving. It doesn’t show up in individual metrics.
- Put these people where many work steps come together. On the periphery, their impact fizzles out.
- Recognize this behavior explicitly so that others adopt it.
- When you bring in a top performer, plan the environment too: colleagues they work well with, resources, time to settle in.
- For tightly interlocked tasks, don’t just check how good each individual is – check whether the roles fit together.
The questions for your team3 questions for your team conversation: Who gets things going on our team – and does that person sit where the work comes together?
- Who gets things going on our team – and does that person sit where the work comes together?
- Do we recognize helping and speaking up as much as individual performance?
- Where do we rely on the strength of one individual even though the task calls for working together?
Take time for one question at your next team meeting. Talk about it openly and note down what you take away from it.
The picture to rememberThe dots rest in a grid. A golden spark nudges the first one, and the movement runs through all of them like a wave.
- The dots rest in a grid.
- A golden spark nudges the first one, and the movement runs through all of them like a wave.
What the Team Principle of the Catalyst looks like in practice
The “No-Stats All-Star”
8.6 points per game in 977 NBA games: Shane Battier’s individual numbers were unremarkable. But plus-minus analyses by Rockets general manager Daryl Morey showed that his team played better when he was on the court – later he won two championships with Miami.
Leave Your Ego at the Door
On the night of January 28–29, 1985, more than 45 stars gather at the A&M Recording Studios in Hollywood; a sign at the entrance asks everyone to check their ego at the door. Harry Belafonte had provided the spark, Ken Kragen had recruited the musicians, Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie had written the song, and Quincy Jones is producing.
A Superstar Every Year, Three Years Without a Title
Between 2000 and 2003, Real Madrid, under president Florentino Pérez, buys a global superstar every summer: Luís Figo, Zinédine Zidane, Ronaldo, David Beckham. In the summer of 2003, coach Vicente del Bosque is dismissed and defensive midfielder Claude Makélélé leaves the club – and after the Super Cup in August 2003, the club wins no more titles until 2006.
