# Don’t Take Your A-Players For Granted

## Метаданные

- **Канал:** Strategic Coach
- **YouTube:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfVzzYO6uSY
- **Дата:** 05.03.2026
- **Длительность:** 14:55
- **Просмотры:** 62
- **Источник:** https://ekstraktznaniy.ru/video/20426

## Описание

Do your A-Players know how much you value them? In this episode, Shannon Waller explains why top talent is often the easiest to overlook and the high cost of taking them for granted. She also shares a practical five-part formula to ensure your best people feel utilized, appreciated, and rewarded so they never want to leave.

Download Episode Transcript (https://yourteamsuccess.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/TeamSuccessPodcast_DontTakeYourAPlayersForGranted_transcript.pdf) 

Show Notes:

  •  Your A-Players are the top 10 percent of available talent for a role, consistently performing at a high level while fully living your company’s core values.
     
  •  A-Players make your life easier by consistently delivering easier, faster, better, and cheaper results, which is exactly why they’re so easy to unintentionally take for granted.
     
  •  When you overlook your best people, they often take on more and more responsibility, leading to burnout, resentment, and eventually disengagement 

## Транскрипт

### Segment 1 (00:00 - 05:00) []

Do your A players know how much you love and appreciate them? Are they feeling rewarded and taken care of? Stay tuned for why it's so important not to take your A players for granted. Hi, Shannon Waller here and welcome to team success. Today I want to talk to you about not taking your A players for granted. And I've heard about this from some clients. We've had our own experiences of that. And so I want to talk about what happens both for you and for them. There are some consequences and it makes sense to make sure that you are paying attention to your best performers. So let's start by defining terms like what the heck is an a player anyway? And this is a term that you may have heard and it comes from Dr. Bradmart who wrote a very large book. It's really a tome called top grading. So this is the definition from top grading. So an A player is someone who performs in the top 10% of available talent for a given role. So this could be president, this could be receptionist, this could be VP, this could be the janitor. Okay? So it is the top 10% of talent for a given role and they can do that consistently while living the organization's core values. And that's actually an upgrade from the first definition that I had heard. So your A player is in the top 10%. And it was really fun because I read a beautiful synopsis of top grading Price Pritchette book. If you can find it, I'd recommend it. It's old, but it was really good. And it's like the number of lines of code that an A player could write compared to a B player was like 1,200 lines of code in a particular time frame compared to like 300, like exponentially more. So, it's the top talent that you can afford in any given role. And again, it's at that pay grade. That's the other part of this. So the pay grade could be large or small. Could be, you know, someone who works in a fast food restaurant for minimum wage or it could be someone that you pay lots and lots of dividends to your call. But an A player is still an A player. That top 10% of talent and they can do it consistently while also living the organization's core values. So that's the definition of that. So when you have an A player, it makes sense to want to take care of them. So, first of all, why do A players matter? Well, they're the people who take on the most, who produce the most, who are often your quieter people. They just do what they do really, really well. They're very successful in strategic coach's term. They're living their unique ability. They're consistent. You can count on them. And they may have been with you for a very long time, or they may have just risen to a new role and they've all of a sudden started to shine. Lots of different ways of thinking about that, but they really make a difference and they make your life easier. They do things easier, faster, bigger, better for a cheaper result. They're just superb at what it is that they do. And they're not jerks about it. My definition of an A player is someone who's not a drama queen or king. They are someone who does their job really, really well. In fact, they kind of make it look easy, which is part of the problem because we can end up taking them for granted. We know they're countonable and we know that they're going to do what they're going to do. We know that no matter what they're going to produce the result, but you know when you have something around a long time, even if you think it's beautiful, it becomes part of the furniture and we don't appreciate the beauty elegance and we don't appreciate the functionality of that and that's what can happen to eight players or we can just get distracted frankly. So there are a couple of consequences in terms of why I suggest that you pay attention to this. So number one is they can take on a lot of things and they can fill in the gaps and they can start to get really burnt out. It's kind of actually brown out more than burnout. They have a large capacity for those things that they really like to do. But if they're not feeling appreciated, taken care of or even compensated, they can get really resentful. And a resentful a player can be a force and they can take other people down with them. Hopefully, you can correct the situation before that happens. Much more frequently though, they leave because they feel taken for granted. They don't feel special. They don't feel rewarded. And they're like, I know I'm good. I know I'm capable. I've contributed a ton to this organization. And if that's not going to be appreciated, I'm going to go where I will be appreciated. And guess what? They will be. Because top talent I think is hard to find. People who know their strengths and play to their strengths, stay tuned for the next podcast about that are not that common. And when they know how they can make a difference, where they make a difference, and they really want to contribute, they are worth their weight in gold. And so they will leave. And that is actually the

### Segment 2 (05:00 - 10:00) [5:00]

biggest consequence that I see. So, and they'll leave probably before they get super burnt out because they don't feel appreciated, they don't feel cared for, they don't feel seen. And it's interesting in companies it is the squeaky wheel who gets the grease. I can tell you hours and weeks and months of conversation about someone who maybe from one particular lens could have been seen as a top performer but in a lot of other ways were very costly. They certainly did not live the organization's core values. And just the amount of leadership time that cost was in the tens of thousands if not six figures in terms of what it cost. Oh my goodness. You can find other good talent for that much money, right? And so that was interesting. So kind of a couple things about this. I'm going to give you a formula to make sure that you check all the boxes and score at least a four out of five on that. But you also need to have your own act together and you need to make sure people don't fall through the cracks. And I know in one circumstance there was a change in leadership. So this one person stepped in, stepped up, did a phenomenal job, learned brand new skills they had never learned before, showed up, managed all of this complexity, and then asked for a raise, very justified, did not get the amount that they thought they should have received and then left. I was like, "Oh, no. " And I hated hearing this because it was like a little bit more of attention paid, appreciation would have made a difference. Would they have stayed forever? Would they have lasted, you know, really long term? Maybe, maybe not. But they wouldn't have left the gap that they did. So, pay attention. Take care of your best people so you don't lose them because right now top talent has a home. So I do think you want to be very hospitable to that top talent. You want to find them and you want to keep them. So retention is a thing. So here's how to retain great people. Now I did write a book called Multiplication by Subtraction about how to exit wrong people. This is the opposite. This is how to keep great people. And I'm going to pull from a phenomenal strategic coach tool. Just called the opportunity filter. So, the opportunity filter, Dan Sullivan created it to help people filter opportunities for which ones are a right fit. And I was going through the criteria when I was coaching last week. I thought, oh, this criteria works perfectly for what I want to talk to you about. So, whether or not someone's going to see you as an opportunity is if you do five things to a high degree. Number one is utilize. Do you utilize their unique ability, their talents, their strengths, their ambitions, what they're up to? Do you do that? So, first of all, are they being used in the best possible way at what they're good at? Number two is, do you appreciate it? In other words, do you say nice things? Do they get recognition, appreciation, however you like to do that. Some people like applause, right? Some people don't. A handwritten note would actually go much further for them. But do you actually verbally or in writing let them know how much you just appreciate what they contribute? Words matter. Words really matter in this instance. And then do you reward it? And I want you to put a dollar sign, a mental dollar sign after reward. And so, do you compensate them for their top performance? This matters. Is it tied to their results? Can you give them a bonus even if it's not a huge raise? Can you recognize them financially for their contribution? Right? That matters cuz frankly, they're saving you money by not having to hire somebody else. So, let's make sure they're really well compensated. Now, the fourth one is interesting. So, we've got utilize, appreciate, reward. pretty common sense. Then there's enhance. So, do they get better? Do they have a chance to learn? grow? Can they expand their capabilities as a result of doing the work with your organization? In fact, I actually think this is another reason, not a mad reason, but a lack of growth opportunity is why a lot of A players leave because they don't see a future. They don't see how they can get better as a result of keeping doing what they're doing. So if they feel like they're going to hit a plateau or that no one is actually looking out for their future best interests or giving them new opportunities or there's no room for it doesn't necessarily have to be you know a leadership position cuz not everyone's destined for that but if there's just no upward mobility then people leave. I had lots of conversations with my 20some friends they will go to a place where there is more room for growth. big companies, small companies, doesn't matter. This is a thing. And bottom line, do they have a chance to get better? Can they enhance their capabilities and skills and talents as a result of working with you? And then lastly, we think about this from a client standpoint is refer. But refer in an internal situation or role means, do they have a good reputation? Do you talk about how great they are to other people? Are they referable? Because

### Segment 3 (10:00 - 14:00) [10:00]

that's partly what creates new opportunities. And sometimes we keep our best people secret because we don't want anyone else taking them, poaching them, knowing how great they are. That we want to keep them as our bestkept secret. And that serves us. Sure as heck does not serve them. Fortunately, I think I'm pretty good at this one. I make a point when I find someone's talents who are superb, pretty much everyone knows about it. you know, it's like, oh my gosh, do you know what this person did and how great they were and you know, I want to make sure that they are referable. I don't think I'm the be all and end all in terms of someone's career. I would love to be sometimes cuz it serves me, but my commitment is to people's growth. I want them to grow and if they've maxed out what their growth is with me, then I want to help them go their next step. That is what I am committed to. And people know that and they trust that about me. So, I want to make sure that people know a what they're doing, right? And then I want to make sure that other people know what they're doing that is so beneficial for everything. So, I like maximizing strengths. Let's be honest, that's how I'm put together. So, utilize, appreciate, reward, enhance, and refer. Give yourself a score. How much do you do that with this particular A player that you're thinking about? And the scoring here is minus one, which is mean you don't do it. In fact, you do the opposite or up to a five. And I'm not insisting that everyone be a five in all things. I don't think that's realistic. However, I do have a minimum standard, which is four out of five. 80%. A, score yourself an A. If it's less than a four, why? What mindset is getting in your way? What are you worried about? What fear is, you know, preventing you from championing this person and giving them the opportunities? Can you not use them? Are you not appreciating rewarding them? Are you keeping learning opportunities from them? Are you not championing them to other people? Like, what is holding you back from doing that? And I suggest that you, no offense, but get over it and start to do those things because an A player who feels really well utilized in terms of their capabilities and appreciated and rewarded and they're growing and learning and they've got a great reputation, they're not leaving you. They're not getting burnt out. They're excited. They're tying their future to yours. They are helping you build and grow your company. This is the ultimate. This is what they want. And the last thing is they want to be working with other A players. Don't settle them with B or C players. That's just incredibly annoying and very frustrating. And don't keep those people around. Don't justify it. Just go, "Nope, we're putting together an A team allstars. " And do that. So that is the thing that would detract, by the way, from a team standpoint. So, and bottom line, take care of your best people. And this sometimes means that you have to look up, get your head out of whatever mess it is that you're trying to solve, because gosh knows there's a lot of those out there. We can get distracted. We can get busy. We can be focused on personal things sometimes, health issues, family, you name it. Our lives are complicated. But please, please do not take your top people for granted. It costs you and it costs them. And that's a shame because they really are the people. Again, that can help you build and grow your organization and actually cultivate other A players. They've got high standards. They want to work with great people. They'll help grow them as well. So, if you pay attention to them, it has this positive benefit to everything. And it frees you up. That is the point. I don't want your life to become more complicated. So, take care of your A players and they will take care of you is really the bottom line. So, I hope you are inspired and if you are an A player, keep showing up. We appreciate you. And ask for what you need. That would be the other part of it. If you're silent or he's starting to get resentful, give your entrepreneur, give your leader a chance to correct. Don't just give them one shot across the bow and then charge out of there. Say, "Hey, by the way, this is how I'm looking at things. Do I have it right? I hope I'm an A player. This is what I've been aspiring to be. I want to be here for a long time, but if that's going to happen, a couple things need to shift. " So, you can be proactive on your own behalf as well. But you want to create I think well I think unique ability team is a team of A players. I think unique ability teamwork is comprised of that as well and a self-managing and self-multiplying company also requires a players. This is what I want for you and your organization. So I hope this has inspired you to pay attention and to look around and to take really really good care of your people that are taking you. All right, any questions or comments, please let me know at questions@strategiccoach. com. As always, thank you so much for listening and as always, here's to your team success.