Bright-shining business stars illuminate the lesser bodies around them

What did Sebastian Vettel, Warren Buffett and Steve Jobs have in common? Robert Jordan, partner in charge of the Middle East practice of Baker Botts law firm poses the question.

Business stars such as Warren Buffett, the Sage of Omaha, inspire those around them. Reuters.

What did Sebastian Vettel, Warren Buffett and Steve Jobs have in common? I suggest that each in his unique way became indispensable to the goals of the organisations that surrounded them. Without Vettel, the Red Bull Racing team would be good but not great.

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Without Mr Buffett, Berkshire Hathaway would be a fine firm but not what it is today. And with the loss of Steve Jobs, Apple's future is far from certain.

Their common link is that they all became stars.

There are stars in our everyday business lives as well, from bankers to IT consultants to, yes, even lawyers.

As we evolve towards an increasingly knowledge-based economy, the success or failure of countless businesses will be determined by the extent to which they can attract and retain star performers.

A colleague recently recommended a fascinating book that can help us all better understand the role of stars in our organisations.

Written by Jay W Lorsch and Thomas J Tierney, Aligning the Stars: How to Succeed When Professionals Drive Results provides a revealing insight into how dependent many of our businesses are on the top performers. As businesses seek to dig out from the worldwide financial downturn, the survivors will be those that attract and retain the best and brightest.

According to Mr Lorsch and Mr Tierney, the key is to keep these stars "aligned", through proper strategy, organisation, culture and leadership. They contend that simply employing stars is insufficient. "They must also be aligned; that is they must behave in ways that move the firm toward its goals even at their own expense".

This "alignment" requires that the organisation orient its marketing, service systems, branding and entire culture around allowing the stars to shine.

In this process, the organisation's products and services will be the most attractive to their clients and customers, and will outpace the competition. While in boom times mediocre performers might still get by because of surging demand, when demand dips in lean times, the customers will flock to the stars - to organisations in which these stars are properly aligned.

Conventional wisdom has suggested that organisations rely most upon "rainmakers", the talented individuals who bring in the business, even if the work is then done by others.

Mr Lorsch and Mr Tierney give the concept a new twist, emphasising that while rainmaking is important, an even more important factor in success is star-making. In other words, attracting, retaining and motivating star talent. And it is essential to train and groom this talent, with real-time and occasionally brutal feedback. As the authors put it: "You will become who you hire."

It is natural to ask whether there are also roles for the almost-stars or worker bees. Of course, most of us overestimate our own talents.

The long-running US radio show APrairie Home Companion was set from the outset in the mythical town of Lake Wobegon, Minnesota, where "all the women are strong, all the men are good-looking, and all the children are above average". This became known as the "Lake Wobegon effect" - the natural but unrealistic assumption that each of us is, at a minimum, "above average".

How does Aligning the Stars treat those of the organisation's people who, alas, are truly not "above average"? The authors don't really answer this question.

Their bottom line is that the most attention should go to the stars - the 99 per cent of us who think we are at least "above average".

Robert Jordan is partner in charge of the Middle East practice of the law firm Baker Botts, with offices in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Riyadh. He previously served as the US ambassador to Saudi Arabia