Scenario: "Dude, I rock because I read books everyday. Yay!"

• Why is every frickin' business guru McKinseyites?
• Why is every frickin' power nerd Googlers?
• Why is every frickin' financial player Goldman bankers?

"It's the opportunities!" one camp may say. "It's because of the money!" another camp might go. "It's for the reputation!" another might scream. Blah, blah, yadda, wrong, yadda, no way Jose. The right answer? Stars empower their badass-edness by working with -- *drumroll*: Other stars. If you're looking to be an even more awesome dude/tte, surround your bad-self with those stars who will rock your world.

"Just read books!"

Yeah, superstars are self-motivated -- persistently seeking to improve themselves each and every frickin' day.

1. They strive for excellence.
2. They strive for growth.
3. And, they'll do anything within their power to rock your business.

You leave Superstar Jenny in a room, with a problem -- and she'll work her magic. But:

• Can she heighten her performance?
• Can she work X times faster?
• Can she solve problems X times quicker?
• Can she complete X projects within X weeks?

Sure, she's a badass. But to increase performance, she needs those extra pushes. Superstars fulfill that by one-upping each other daily/constantly/persistently/endlessly in a continuous cycle.

Says the Research...

According to a recent study by Harvard's Boris Groysberg and Linda-Eling Lee:

We found that even though an individual's past performance can indicate future performance, the organization also significantly affects top performers' ability to maintain their performance. Specifically, top performers rely on high-quality colleagues in their organizations to improve the quality of their own work and to deliver it effectively to clients.

Rule of thumb: The more stars around you, the higher you perform. To empower your superstar-edness:

Surround your badass with other badasses.