> "A few of us are lucky to be able to find or fashion an environment which enables us to give our best day after day after day."
That's not what A players are - at least in my book. An A player is productive and brilliant regardless the environment. A better environment allows them to be more productive, but they always stand out from the mass.
Maybe that means the A players I encountered were simply skillful enough to always pick the right environment - that's certainly possible. (If so, there's an obvious lesson in there)
But yes, there are B and C players. And they do drag down teams. If you have a good manager, they're able to coach the B players, and they'll shed the C players. If you have a bad manager, they try "A only", or they don't care.
"A only" doesn't work. There are not enough A players to make that possible. "Don't care" results in your typical dysfunctional corporate environment.
With this I completely agree. Professionalism is just that — being productive, doing your job and not behaving like a princess in the absence of ideal conditions and stuff.
In "right environment", given great code in a most beautiful and readable language, two hours a week with a coffee break in the middle — everyone can be a pro. Sadly, reality is not like that.
Not sure about the first part, but this part I like:
>But yes, there are B and C players. And they do drag down teams. If you have a good manager, they're able to coach the B players, and they'll shed the C players. If you have a bad manager, they try "A only", or they don't care.
>"A only" doesn't work. There are not enough A players to make that possible. "Don't care" results in your typical dysfunctional corporate environment.
The first part is based on personal experience. I've met a few people in my 25+ year career that do fit the "A" criteria. Very few.
They're exceedingly rare, but they exist. But you can't hire a whole team of them. What you can do is hire "B"s who aspire to be As. And if, as a manager, you're incredibly lucky, you'll see the occasional one reach that level. Consider yourself blessed if that happens.
Saying "there are no B or C players", however, is doing a disservice to your team - because it's your job as a leader to help people grow. And for that, you're better aware what level somebody performs at.
That's not what A players are - at least in my book. An A player is productive and brilliant regardless the environment. A better environment allows them to be more productive, but they always stand out from the mass.
Maybe that means the A players I encountered were simply skillful enough to always pick the right environment - that's certainly possible. (If so, there's an obvious lesson in there)
But yes, there are B and C players. And they do drag down teams. If you have a good manager, they're able to coach the B players, and they'll shed the C players. If you have a bad manager, they try "A only", or they don't care.
"A only" doesn't work. There are not enough A players to make that possible. "Don't care" results in your typical dysfunctional corporate environment.