Boris Groysberg

It is taken for granted in the knowledge economy that companies must employ the most talented performers to compete and succeed. Many firms try to buy stars by luring them away from competitors. But Boris Groysberg shows what an uncertain and disastrous practice this can be.

After examining the careers of more than a thousand star analysts at Wall Street investment banks, and conducting more than two hundred frank interviews, Groysberg comes to a striking conclusion: star analysts who change firms suffer an immediate and lasting decline in performance. Their earlier excellence appears to have depended heavily on their former firms' general and proprietary resources, organizational cultures, networks, and colleagues. There are a few exceptions, such as stars who move with their teams and stars who switch to better firms. Female stars also perform better after changing jobs than their male counterparts do. But most stars who switch firms turn out to be meteors, quickly losing luster in their new settings. Groysberg also explores how some Wall Street research departments are successfully growing, retaining, and deploying their own stars. Finally, the book examines how its findings apply to many other occupations, from general managers to football players. Chasing Stars offers profound insights into the fundamental nature of outstanding performance. It also offers practical guidance to individuals on how to manage their careers strategically, and to companies on how to identify, develop, and keep talent.

How can leaders make their big or growing companies feel small again? How can they recapture the “magic”—the tight strategic alignment, the high level of employee engagement—that drove and animated their organization when it was a start-up? As more and more executives have discovered in recent years, the answer to this conundrum lies in the power of conversation. In Talk, Inc., Boris Groysberg and Michael Slind show how trusted and effective leaders are adapting the principles of face-to-face conversation in order to pursue a new form of organizational conversation. They explore the promise of conversation-powered leadership—from the time-tested practice of talking straight (and listening well) to the thoughtful adoption of social media technology. And they offer guidance on how to balance the benefits of open-ended talk with the realities of strategic execution. Drawing on the experience of leaders at diverse companies from around the world, Talk, Inc., offers provocative insights and user-friendly tips on how to make organizational culture more intimate, more interactive, more inclusive, and more intentional—in short, more conversational. How can leaders make their big or growing companies feel small again? How can they recapture the “magic”—the tight strategic alignment, the high level of employee engagement—that drove and animated their organization when it was a start-up? As more and more executives have discovered in recent years, the answer to this conundrum lies in the power of conversation. In Talk, Inc., Boris Groysberg and Michael Slind show how trusted and effective leaders are adapting the principles of face-to-face conversation in order to pursue a new form of organizational conversation. They explore the promise of conversation-powered leadership—from the time-tested practice of talking straight (and listening well) to the thoughtful adoption of social media technology. And they offer guidance on how to balance the benefits of open-ended talk with the realities of strategic execution. Drawing on the experience of leaders at diverse companies from around the world, Talk, Inc., offers provocative insights and user-friendly tips on how to make organizational culture more intimate, more interactive, more inclusive, and more intentional—in short, more conversational.

This article by Boris Groysberg and Michael Slind on organizational conversation appeared in The World Financial Review, July-August 2012.

 

An interview with Boris Groysberg, Professor, Harvard Business School. Many star performers hired from outside don't perform as expected at their new company. So, develop stars within your company; for example, through strong training and mentoring programs.

Won the 2011 Axiom Business Book Award Gold Medal in the Operations Management category for Chasing Stars: The Myth of Talent and the Portability of Performance (Princeton University Press, 2010).

Winner of the 2006 Emerald Management Reviews Citation of Excellence for "Which Types of Analyst Firms Are More Optimistic?" (with Amanda Paige Cowen and Paul Healy, Journal of Accounting & Economics, April 2006).

Winner of the 2001 George S. Dively Award for outstanding dissertation research.

Recipient of the Robert F. Greenhill Award in 2013 for contributions to the W50 programs celebrating the 50th anniversary of women at HBS.

Received the 2016 Charles M. Williams Award for Excellence in Teaching.

Named a Top 100 HR Tech Influencer by Human Resource Executive and the HR Technology Conference in 2019.

The Five Bestselling MIT Sloan Management Review Articles of 2019 include “The Magic That Makes Customer Experiences Stick” (Fall 2019).

Named a Top 100 HR Tech Influencer by Human Resource Executive and the HR Technology Conference in 2020.

“Keeping Google ‘Googley’ (Abridged)” with David A. Thomas and Alison Berkley Wagonfeld (HBS Case 409-099) was added to The Case Centre Classic Case Collection in 2021.