How To Identify A, B, C and D Players

You’ve likely heard people refer to team members as A Players, B Players, C Players, and even D Players. In this video, I’m going to help you take a look at your team and determine which of these categories each of your team members fits into. This will help you understand what actions to take to get the best out of them. I will also point you to another video that provides best practices on what to do with each category of player.

If you have no idea what I’m talking about, I have another video on what are A, B, C, and D Players, which I’ve linked for you. I’m going to assume from here on out that you’re familiar with these different types of players.

How Do You Know If Your Team Member Is an A Player?

A Players tend to stand out. You’ll quickly notice their ability to deliver results with minimal supervision or motivation. However, not all A Players are created equal. To be a true A Player, your team member also needs to be aligned with your brand’s vision, culture, and core values.

As a Scaling Up coach, I use and recommend a Talent Assessment Chart. It sounds complicated, but you can assess team members on two key factors: productivity and alignment with core values. I suggest using a five-star rating to keep it simple:

B Players

B Players are decent at their jobs, sometimes even doing things well, but they aren’t consistent. They might get the job done but rarely excel. In essence, the “B” in B Player could stand for “bare minimum.” While they may be well-liked by the team, they aren’t delivering the ROI you’d expect, especially when they’re earning close to what an A Player does. In fact, A Players often get frustrated when they have to pick up the slack.

C and D Players

Finally, we have C and D Players. These team members lack both the potential and the capacity to rise to the next level. You might feel they’re good people or nice to have around, but this isn’t enough to justify keeping them on the team. They may leave you unimpressed or even drained. Furthermore, or perhaps more importantly, they could likely result in "A"- Players getting frustrated and leaving the team.

What’s Next?

Now that you’ve identified which category your team members fall into, what do you do next? In this playlist, you will find videos on how to handle each type of player, whether that’s guiding them to the next level or releasing them to a position that better suits their abilities.