What Actually Makes Someone an A-Player
You probably have someone like this in your business.
They are good at what they do, they know their role, and they consistently get results. When something important needs to happen, you know you can usually count on them. They have experience, they solve difficult issues, and the business benefits from what they contribute.
There is another side of the person that concerns you. Perhaps they are difficult with other people. They dismiss ideas they do not agree with, resist accountability, create friction between departments, or behave in ways that do not reflect the culture you are trying to build. You have noticed it. Other people have noticed it too.
The difficult part is that they perform at the level the business needs.
So the behaviour gets tolerated.
That is where the real A-Player conversation begins.
What Actually Makes Someone an A-Player?
An A-Player consistently lives your company's culture and performs at the level required of their role.
Culture provides the foundation. Your culture is shaped by your Core Purpose, Core Values and BHAG. It gives people a shared understanding of why the company exists, what it stands for and where you are going.
An A-Player buys into that culture and demonstrates it through their behaviour. You can see it in the way they make decisions, work with other people, respond when things go wrong and handle pressure. They do not simply agree with the values. They live them.
Performance is the second part of the equation. An A-Player understands what their role requires and consistently delivers against those expectations. They take responsibility for what they own, follow through on their commitments and produce the results the business needs from them.
Both dimensions matter.
Someone can be deeply aligned with your culture and still fall short of the performance required in their role. Someone else can consistently deliver the performance their role requires while behaving in ways that conflict with the culture.
Neither gives you the complete A-Player picture.
When Performance Becomes an Excuse
The second situation is particularly difficult for a CEO.
Imagine someone who consistently delivers strong results. Their numbers are good. They have valuable knowledge. They solve issues that others struggle with, and replacing them would be difficult.
At the same time, they regularly behave in ways that contradict your Core Values.
You have noticed it. Other people have noticed it. Perhaps you have even addressed it before.
But the results keep coming.
So an exception gets made.
Then another.
Eventually, the exception becomes part of the culture.
Your people learn that the standards are different for someone who produces enough results. They learn that the company's values apply until someone becomes valuable enough to be treated differently.
Your strong performers notice that too.
Your A-Players want to work with other A-Players. They want to be part of a company where the culture reflects what they believe in, where people treat one another in a way that reflects that culture, and where strong performance is expected.
When a toxic high performer is protected because of their results, you can end up protecting one person's performance while driving away other people who are helping you build the company you want.
That is an expensive trade.
Cultural Fit Is More Than Agreeing With the Values
Cultural fit can be easy to talk about and harder to recognize.
Someone may tell you they believe in your Core Values. They may be well liked. They may have been with the company for years.
The better test is what happens when the person is under pressure.
How do they treat someone who disagrees with them? How do they respond when someone challenges their decision? What happens when they make a mistake? Do they take responsibility? Do they treat people with respect? Do their decisions reflect the company's values when doing so is inconvenient?
Those moments reveal the culture someone actually lives.
The same applies to your Core Purpose and BHAG. Does the person understand why the company exists? Do they care about what you are trying to build? Do they make decisions that support the direction you have committed to?
Cultural alignment is something you see over time.
Performance Needs Clarity Too
Performance needs the same level of clarity.
Every role exists to produce specific outcomes. An A-Player knows what is expected and consistently delivers against those expectations.
This is why clear performance expectations matter. They give you something concrete to evaluate rather than relying on personality, tenure or how much you like someone.
A person can be a great colleague and a strong cultural fit while still struggling to perform in their role.
That deserves attention.
So does the high performer whose behaviour consistently conflicts with the culture.
The A-Player standard gives you a way to have both conversations honestly.
Why the Leadership Team Matters Most
The A-Player conversation becomes especially important when you look at the people sitting around your leadership table.
The leadership team sets the standard for the organization. People throughout the company watch what happens at the top. They see who is held accountable, who is rewarded, whose behaviour gets challenged and whose behaviour gets excused.
That means the leadership team needs a very high standard.
Are we 100% A-Players?
That is a question worth asking without qualifying the answer.
If someone around the leadership table consistently violates the culture, their performance does not erase the issue. The rest of the organization will see the inconsistency, and it will influence how seriously they take the culture themselves.
The CEO has a particular responsibility here.
The people around the leadership table need to be people you trust to represent the company's culture and deliver the performance expected of their roles. They are the people who will help turn your Purpose, Values and BHAG into everyday decisions throughout the organization.
The Right Person in the Right Seat
There is another leadership responsibility that becomes important as the company grows.
The A-Player test remains the same.
The role may change.
As the business develops, responsibilities evolve. A role that once required one set of capabilities may eventually require another. Someone who was an excellent fit for one seat may be less suited to the requirements of that seat later.
That does not change the A-Player definition.
It creates a right-person, right-seat conversation for the CEO and leadership team.
An A-Player does not have to become a bigger leader. They do not have to take on more responsibility simply because the business is growing. They need to continue living the culture and performing at the level required of the role they hold.
Your responsibility is to make sure the roles in the business continue to match the needs of the business and that the right people are sitting in them.
A Simple Exercise for Your Leadership Team
Take the people sitting around your leadership table and look at each person through two lenses.
First, ask whether they consistently live your company's culture. Think about Purpose, Values and BHAG, then look at the behaviours you actually observe, particularly when pressure is high.
Second, ask whether they consistently perform at the level required of their role. Look at evidence rather than assumptions.
Then ask yourself a harder question:
If I were building this leadership team today, knowing what I know now, would I choose every one of these people again?
Take your time with the answer.
You may have people who are clearly A-Players. You may have someone who performs strongly but has a cultural issue that needs to be addressed. You may have someone who is deeply aligned with the culture but is struggling to meet the expectations of their role.
The purpose of the exercise is not to put a label on people.
It is to create clarity about the leadership team you have and the leadership team the business needs.
The Standard Starts at the Top
You cannot expect the rest of the organization to consistently live the culture if the leadership team does not.
You cannot expect people to take the Core Values seriously when leaders are allowed to ignore them.
And you cannot expect your strongest people to stay when they see behaviour that contradicts the culture being protected because the person produces results.
The leadership team has to set the standard.
That starts with the CEO.
Are the people around your leadership table 100% A-Players?
If the answer is not an immediate yes, there is a conversation that needs to be had.
Because the people you choose to lead the company will influence the culture you build, the people who choose to stay and the results you achieve.
The Real Test of an A-Player
An A-Player consistently lives your company's culture and performs at the level required of their role.
Look at both.
Then look at your leadership team as a whole.
Are the people around your leadership table 100% A-Players?
How Clear Is Your Leadership Foundation?
Your leadership team has a significant influence on your company's culture, performance and ability to grow.
The Leadership Clarity Index gives you a starting point for looking at the foundational elements that affect how well your leadership team can move the business forward.
