How do You Become an A-Player?

An A-Player is not a person who went to Harvard, I echo Auren Hoffman's sentiment. Still according to Hoffman, an 'A-Player' by definition is incredibly productive and smart and has that 'it', that rockstar-esque factor that makes everyone want to work with her.

Ben Zander talked about the concept of leading from any chair - he's contagious in his enthusiasm and love for being present to what he does. Building on that post at The Blog Herald, I wrote about marketing lessons we can draw from his body of work. They can also be applied to the characteristics that distinguish A-Players:

1. Know that it's all invented - inventors, creators, incredibly productive people do not stop at one way of looking at things. They are constantly seeing possibility, renewal, betterment, learning, activity everywhere they go. And they end up finding a new way or may of doing things. Or as Guy Kawasaki would say, they know the art of the start.

2. Stop measuring everything - breakthroughs are hardly ever incremental. Instead, they are leaps. People who create believe in themselves, they express their skill with passion and joy. People are attracted to them. Their life does not depend on hitting the jackpot all the time and they are more open to connections, which in turn create success. One last word on measurement - learn to measure the right things.

3. Be a contribution - people who are curious, interested, and think they can learn from anyone actually end up doing so. They figure out how to be of service and develop positive and productive behavior that in turn creates abundance in their lives.

In other words, a true A-Player is not arrogant and self-centered. A true A-Player is someone who has the right attitude when it comes to team and has a lot of implicit good karma from activities outside their day job. They derive satisfaction and even job security from their own skills and abilities.

In addition to the points above, how do you become an A-Player?

4. Work on improving your skills constantly - learning by trial and error doesn't mean that you always have to run lots of risks, but you need to be open to failing. Many in the comments to Hoffman's post agree that past performance is not a guarantee of future results.

5. Think "can do" as a default - this should be a no-brainer but it isn't so much. A-Player is in your mind, it's not in the minds of others. When you think you can do what you set out to do, then you can deal with whatever it is that comes your way. In other words, you learn to be situational in your approach.

Notice that there is no mention of Twitter counts, or any friends count in this post. Money is also a tricky concept with A-Players - abundance is not just expressed in cash. It's expressed in authenticity and honesty, which in turn earns trust.

Take for example my mother [in the photo with a singer], she is an A-Player, yet she never lived in a castle. Quite the opposite. She's worked hard her whole life, she still does. That's the same ethic I seem to have inherited - thank Heavens (actually her) for that.

Some questions for you. Does an A-Player need to have great Google juice today? How about referrals from their network? Do A-Players get implicit credibility? Can companies also be A-Players? What about brands? Do you have a definition of A-Player?

Comments

[gianandrea facchini]

Valeria, in my opinion ranking, google juice, etc are a natural consequence for an A-Player while they are THE goal for the followers.

BTW, I love the definition of Stop measuring everything.

[Hayli @ Transition Concierge]

No. 3 is most key, I think - essentially, interpersonal relations. Specifically, the ability to moderate and stimulate conversation and healthy debate and genuinely make people feel important.

[Bruce Christensen]

My wife Sarah is an A-player.
After raising 5 kids and a brilliant career in Recreation, she is going back to college to get her degree. (She will be gone from her home for 7-weeks to get this done)

She left college to marry and have children, but she always wanted to completed college someday.

She has been an A-player for our family and her co-workers and is now a retired empty-nester.

She didn't need a huge social network to be on the A-team in my book.

[steve cunningham]

Valeria - I think the point you make at the end of "stop measuring everything" is SO important. As soon as the "score" is visible, everybody starts playing the game. Quite often, the score measures things that ultimately aren't very important.

A great example of this is Twitter, where almost everybody focuses on the # of followers they have when a better measure might be the # of deep connections they make with people.

The difference between the A's and the B's? B players spend their lives trying to win at the wrong game.

[Valeria Maltoni]

@Gianandrea - it looks like many felt the same way you did on measurement. We've become so obsessed with it, that we often lose sight of the part that can draw in the results.

@Hayli - yes, in the same way as we enjoy when someone communicates with us personally, so does everyone else.

@Bruce - I hope Sarah is reading this comment. You rock for writing it :)

@Steve - it sounds more and more like there is a backlash on the numbers without context or value, doesn't it? Focus is key. My friend Peter would talk about the convergence of intention and intent. There is so much more to be gained by being genuine and available to connections.

[Alvin Lim]

Hi Valeria,

Very inspiring post you have here. Similarly, I think the point "stop measuring everything" is very important. I'm from Malaysia (er...the country to the north of Singapore) and our culture here is quite different. People here like to compare with each other - who has the bigger house, bigger car, higher job position, bigger company, richer husband, more successful children, etc. Sadly, it has actually becoming a norm in our society.

And maybe that is also why most people here are not happy because they are not content with what they have. A friend of mine is driving a big car, but he wants a bigger one. Then I threw him this question, "what's next then, get an even bigger car so that you can be 'better'"?

If someone tells me that is how people can improve themselves then sorry to say, I don't agree. We should improve ourselves so that we can contribute more to the society and also to pursue whatever we believe in. We don't improve ourselves so that we can show other people we are better than them.

But then again, if everyone has this kind of mindset, I wouldn't see so many unhappy faces on the streets. :)

[Paula Dauncey]

I really like this post, very positive and a good set of rules to live life by, not just your professional life. I like point 5 very much, as it doesn't matter if something you try is a complete disaster, pick yourself up and try something different. Great stuff.

[Valeria Maltoni]

@Alvin - I had a very good friend for years who is now back in her town in Malaysia. Thank you for reminding me of her. In the US, they call that pressure you describe as "keeping up with the Jones'" or "the rat race", which means that even if you win, you're still a rat. Better or self as in continuous learning and growth is an improvement over that thinking... with wisdom comes the acceptance that we are all we can be at any moment in time. As I said, it comes with wisdom.

@Paula - thank you. It is also very much true in the world of digital communications, where you can be king or queen for a day and a perfect unknown the next - things just change that fast.