It’s possible to get by without them, but it’s hard to thrive.

There are certainly many others who can perform the same core job function, but it’s not just about the job description on paper.

A-Players bring a whole other list of skills, mindsets, and perspectives that don’t just get the job done, but make everything else in your business run more smoothly as well.

Most solid professionals are B or B+, and you can certainly build a business with them.

But it’s hard to build a truly remarkable business without a roster of A-Players.

A’s are hard to find, more expensive to hire, and presented with more opportunities to leave. But if you can find and retain them, you’ll be able to move faster, create better work, and stress less.

Here’s a starting point for identifying or training A-Players on your existing team or bringing on new ones.

A-Players:

1. Are absolute rockstars at their job role.
2. Believe in and are committed to the company’s mission.
3. Make the culture of the company better by engaging and being a part of it.
4. Go above and beyond and do what hasn’t explicitly been asked if they know it will help the work or the company.
5. Have empathy for the clients.
6. Take charge of situations and pick up the slack without having been asked.
7. Identify potential problems and delays before they happen and fix them themselves or propose solutions to avoid them.
8. Ask for help when they don’t know.
9. Do everything within their power to find the answer before asking for help.
10. Regularly think about ways to make the company or the work better and bring new ideas to the table.
11. Speak up and push back when confronted with something that is outside the company’s (or their own) values.
12. Have an opinion on the work and the company and can back it up.
13. Welcome critique and accept it humbly.
14. Give critique generously and kindly.
15. Don’t need to be monitored.
16. Complete work before deadlines.
17. Make everyone around them better.
18. Seek to operate in a way that makes everyone else’s job easier.
19. Communicate proactively rather than reactively.
20. Never present an opportunity to question their trustworthiness or reliability.
21. Work on themselves/better themselves without being asked or incentivized.
22. Are constantly leveling up their skills.
23. Don’t make excuses, take radical ownership when things go awry.
24. Don’t require external motivation or incentivization.
25. Have high standards that raise the bar for the team as a whole.
26. Want to work on challenging projects.
27. Have clear boundaries and enforce them
28. Look after themselves physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.

Got an addition to the list? Let me know what A-Players mean to you in the comments.