BCG BLOG

Best Supporting Actor

It’s 2004 and the Phoenix Suns are coming off a dismal 29-53 season. The projection for the upcoming season was bleak and the seemingly insignificant addition of 30-year-old point guard, Steve Nash, did little to change it. Nash wasn’t exactly a flashy acquisition. But, while the statistics he arrived with could be measured, his ability to make everyone around him better could not. 
In Nash's first season with Phoenix, the team improved by 33 games - the largest single-season leap in NBA history at the time. Nash was great, averaging a league leading 11.5 assists per game. But the statistics barely capture what Nash actually did. Players like Shawn Marion and Amar'e Stoudemire, who had been solid contributors, suddenly became All-Stars with Nash’s ability to bring out the best in them. From an overall team standpoint, Phoenix was nearly 15 points better with Nash on the court than with him on the bench. 
What made Nash's approach so impactful was his understanding that his job wasn't to be the best player on the court - it was to help everyone else become their best. Nash had an uncanny gift for creating passing lanes that didn’t exist for other players, but more importantly, he knew exactly where each teammate wanted the ball and how to get it to them in positions where they could succeed. 
Nash didn't chase his own statistics and in doing so, won two MVP awards. Instead he orchestrated an offense where everyone thrived. Rather than dominating the spotlight he ensured the spotlight found the right person at the right moment. He understood what many striving for excellence miss:  the greatest leaders are best at making someone else the star of the show.

Why Should We Care?
Nash's approach reveals a fundamental truth about effective leadership that runs counter to how most people think about success: the best leaders aren't those who demonstrate their own excellence, but those who create the conditions for others to demonstrate theirs. Too many leaders fall into the trap of being the "best actor" - making sure their own contributions are noticed, their ideas are implemented, and their achievements are recognized. This makes it about you. But leadership isn’t about you. It’s about your people. Nash-style leadership multiplies your impact through others rather than putting a ceiling on it.
This principle becomes crucial if we aspire to sustain excellence. There’s definitely a draw to be the "best actor", but while you might receive some of the recognition you are looking for you are also signing your team up for dramatic ups and downs because the team's performance is so dependent on your daily energy, availability, and decisions. When everything flows through you, a bottleneck is instantly created. Conversely, a "best supporting actor" approach creates depth, resilience, and distributed capability. Excellence becomes embedded in the culture rather than dependent on an individual.
Our personal pursuit of excellence follows the same pattern. Leaders who measure their success primarily by their own visible achievements often find themselves isolated, overwhelmed, and ultimately limited. But leaders who define success by how much they elevate others discover something counterintuitive: by making others better, they become more valuable, more influential, and more effective than they ever could have been by focusing solely on personal performance. 
Nash could have averaged 25 points per game if he'd wanted to, but he wouldn't have won MVP awards or transformed a franchise. His greatness came precisely from his willingness to be the supporting actor in everyone else's success story.

REAL TALK - Action Steps
Shifting from "best actor" to "best supporting actor" leadership requires intentional changes in how you spend your time and measure your success. Here’s a few ideas to get you started:

• We Metrics > Me Metrics 
  
  • Stop evaluating your leadership effectiveness primarily through your personal accomplishments and start tracking the growth and achievements of those you lead. This isn't about false humility - it's about recognizing that your job is to create more leaders, not more followers.
    

• Disappear to Help Them Appear
  
  • Deliberately look for opportunities to step back and let others lead, even when you could do it yourself. If you're the person with the answer in every meeting, you're not developing your team's problem-solving capacity. The goal isn't to disappear, but to become the kind of leader who is most valuable through others' success rather than your own visibility.
    

• Shine the Light Through Them
  
  • Learn not just what your people are capable of, but where they want to shine and how you can set them up for success. Have conversations specifically about their aspirations and growth edges. Then actively look for opportunities to position them in situations where their strengths will be showcased. 
    

The transition from best actor to best supporting actor isn't about diminishing your own capabilities or hiding your talents - it's about recognizing that leadership at its highest level is measured not by what you accomplish directly, but by what you make possible for others. 

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