“A” Player: What does it look like?

Last week I met with a client who has successfully grown his company to 750 employees. This national company has received numerous business awards in his industry as well as making the Inc. 500 Fastest Growing Companies list.  When I first started helping the company with their hiring practices, the company had 50 FTEs.

The owner is someone I highly respect as a person and as an entrepreneur.  I asked him, “How do you define an “A” player?”  Or, “what does an “A” player look like?” 

He first gave a simple answer:

A player = Great
B player = Good
C player = Average

Then he pondered thoughtfully for a moment and then answered again. He said, “If I lay my head down on my pillow at night and pray to God that this person is on my team, then that person is an “A” player.  If even 6-8 times a year, I lay my head down on my pillow and ask myself if this person is an “A” player, then they are not an “A” player.”

Bottom line – if you don’t have to ask yourself the question; the answer is clear!