How do you define an A Player?

We wrote an article recently about defining your A player which you can find on our blog or https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/im-talent-acquisition-john-schmidt/?trackingId=IH%2FB%2BmRuSVW9HtsGgp7mWA%3D%3D.

I had a really good conversation with one of my LinkedIn contacts about this but to summarize, she said: I don't want something generic, give me something specific.

And I said, I can't give you something specific because YOU have to define it.

Now, there are specifics that we use at Midtown, that help us consistently identify top performers, based on our experiences interviewing 1,000's of people over the last 11 years, and perhaps I'll get into that in the future.

Some generic things we're looking for are:

• Attention to detail - does this person typo everything.
• Grammar - can they write a decent sentence. As you can tell by my writing, I'm not Hemingway but I can manage to get a verb and a couple of adjectives together.
• Communication - do they speak intelligently.
• Promotion - has this person been recognized by their previous employers.
• Stability - have they had a new job every 18 months.

But here are some examples why you should define it and why it should and will vary.

Is a 6'7 300 lb guy that runs a 4.7 40 an "A player" when you're evaluating him to play Wide Receiver? Probably not. Is he an "A player" when you're looking for a Left Tackle? Maybe.

Is the 200 lb guy a good option at Left Tackle? Not if you want your star Quarterback to survive!

Is a person that is an excellent Account Manager, your clients love them, rave about the person, but you need someone closing new business, is that person an "A player" for this business development role? Maybe, maybe not. But you better realize those are two very different jobs and potentially two very different personality types.

One of my best friends is the nicest person you'll ever meet. I'm lucky to have called him a friend since we met in the 7th grade. He doesn't like confrontation, he thrived taking care of customers but struggled overcoming objections because in his mind, it was confrontation.

It's up to me as a hiring manager and leader not to put my friend, that offensive lineman, or that WR in a position where they are not setup to succeed.

So come up with your definition for the specific position in your specific company, define it, and go and find the person that fits it and maybe most importantly, the person who can't wait to do it for you.

That's how you build a winning team.

How do you define it?