UCL School of Management PhD alumnus Dr Lei Liu, together with Professor Martin Kilduff and Associate Professors Sunny Lee and Colin Fisher, has recently published a new research paper titled “Buffered by Reflected Glory? The Effects of Star Connections on Career Outcomes” at the Journal of Applied Psychology. The research investigates how past associations with high-profile, high-performing stars can shape career outcomes long after the connection has ended.
Using 40 years of data from the National Basketball Association, UCL School of Management researchers find that assistant coaches who previously worked under star head coaches were more likely to be hired as head coaches. However, their longer-term career trajectories took an unexpected turn: star-connected coaches were more likely to be dismissed when their teams exceeded expectations, compared to peers without such connections. Conversely, they were more protected from dismissal when their teams underperformed.
A follow-up experiment suggests that this paradox is driven by inflated expectations. Evaluators assume that individuals with star connections will deliver exceptional results, and when they perform well, their achievements can be undervalued.
The findings challenge the meritocratic ideal that career outcomes are determined solely by performance. Instead, the research reveals how reputational legacies, particularly those tied to star connections can shield individuals from failure but also impose standards so high that even success may not be enough.
