Professional Archetypes
A Players and those who work with them
What do we really mean when we talk about A Players in the professional world? If you asked, I think most people would say something along the lines of, “I know it when I see it.” Maybe so, but that’s not very helpful for someone trying to decompose and understand performance at work. And it definitely falls short if you are trying to improve your status and become recognized as an A Player yourself.
Let’s look a little deeper. Begin by thinking of a person you’ve worked with in the past that you consider to be an A Player. (Have someone in mind? Nominate them for the A Players Experiment.) If you think about the interactions you had with this person, you will likely identify more than one way that they excelled and impressed.
Here is one way of looking at it. Incomplete, but hopefully you will find it helpful. I’ve identified three separate components of performance at work.
Three dimensions of professional performance
Technical skill and intellectual horsepower correspond to the rational part of running a business. Strong developers write excellent software. Talented salespeople make lots of sales.
Emotional intelligence and leadership are often referred to as “soft skills.” Basically they refer to a person’s humanity. Do customers and colleagues like being around them?
Integrity and grit are deeper character traits, and are very difficult to identify without passing through some sort of adversity together. Because of the critical moments that will make or break a company, the courage that underlies these deeper characteristics has been cited as the top priority.
If you buy into these three buckets, we can learn some interesting things by exploring the combinations.
Some people are strong in two of the three areas and weaker in the third. These are powerful contributors and important to all types of organizations. For example, imagine someone with strong technical skills and the character depth to persevere down the stretch, but who lacks the ability to empathize with others and, as a result, deenergizes teams and demotivates colleagues. Netflix famously refers to these people as “brilliant jerks” (and sends them packing).
Another category is the Worker Bee — people who relate to other people and deliver under duress, but who fall short of the technical brilliance of their top-performing peers. These people often prove to be strong managers and form the substance of most corporate workforces.
Finally, there are some who possess the technical prowess and the leadership skills that are needed for success, but they lack the sticking power. On the surface, these people look like rock stars. They have a strong pedigree, a powerful network, and great ideas. But when the winds blow, these Fast Starters end up fading.
All three of these archetypes have a lot to contribute, and each can be a valuable part of any organization. But a true A Player thrives in all three dimensions, proving through experience that he or she can apply hard skills, soft skills and character to create success. The fact that these attributes are so hard to find in a single person is the exact reason why A Players are so rare. And because these attributes — especially integrity and grit — become visible only over time and through difficult experience, the best way to find A Players is to work with them directly.
