How to Spot an A-Player

The Founder’s Trap

Every founder reaches a point where they realize: growth has outpaced their capacity.

You can’t do it all yourself anymore — but trusting others to own key outcomes feels risky.

That’s where A-players change everything.

They’re the people who think like founders, not employees. They don’t just do work — they move it forward.

And once you learn how to spot an A-player and make the investment of hiring them, you start buying back time, clarity, and momentum.

Why A-Players Matter More Than Systems

When I exited my consulting firm, people often asked about the playbooks and strategies that scaled us. Those things helped for certain, but they only worked because of who we had on the field.

Whether it was entrusting a colleague with full control of company financials, bringing on a director to manage our team of consultants, or giving a hungry sales talent the chance to chase enterprise deals — those A-players didn’t just make our systems thrive. They built new ones.

They found smarter, faster ways to get results — often in ways I hadn’t even imagined.

B-players, on the other hand, follow systems mechanically. No innovation. No ownership to improve.

And C-players? They find ways around the system.

That’s why your ability to identify A-players — before you hire them — is the real founder leverage point.

The Markers of an A-Player

After hiring hundreds of people over the last 20+ years, here’s the pattern I’ve seen again and again in how to spot an A-player.

A-players share five consistent traits — not specific skills, but signals of mindset.

Look for the following attributes:

1. They combine strategy and execution.

A-players don’t hide behind planning meetings. They can zoom out to set direction, and then zoom back in to ship.

Steve Jobs’s quote on “thinker-doers” captures it perfectly: the best people don’t separate thinking from doing. They move fluidly between vision and execution.

If they can tell you about a time they both designed a solution and delivered it — that’s your clue.

2. They own the outcome.

You’ll hear it in their language: “I made sure,” “I led,” and even “I messed up.”

They take responsibility beyond their job description — even when things go sideways.

I remember when our firm lost a big client — a six-figure contract. Yes, the client had unreasonable expectations, but the consultant managing this client account could have been more proactive; they could have raised the flag earlier.

In our post-mortem, that A-player led the conversation by listing everything they could have done better. By owning the outcome, they set the tone for the rest of the team.

They didn’t get fired — they earned more respect. Look to bring other people into your company with similar experiences.

3. They show pattern awareness.

Average performers talk about incidents in isolation: I did this, this happened at the company, this went well, this didn’t. While these observations are important, they may fall short of the real lessons that the company can benefit from.

A-players, on the other hand, take a step back, think more deeply, and recognize when issues repeat. They flag them early, diagnose the root cause, and help build a plan to fix them. They see problems as feedback loops, not failures.

They also recognize the factors that lead to project success and client satisfaction so they can replicate them and drive continuous improvement.

4. They elevate others.

True A-players make the team stronger.

One of the principles I establish in every company I’ve been part of is: “Be hard on issues, soft on people.”

A-players live by that principle. When challenges arise, they act quickly — analyzing the issue, focusing on the root cause, and identifying lessons for themselves and their teams. They don’t point fingers; they model accountability and respect.

So during reference calls, listen for phrases like “everyone worked better around them.” If you hear “brilliant but difficult,” proceed with caution.

5. They’re hungry and humble.

Grit and curiosity travel together. My favorite interview question:

“What’s the last thing you learned that wasn’t required for your job?”

A-players light up at that question. They’re always in motion — learning, adjusting, improving.

But humility is what makes their hunger sustainable. They ask questions even when they already know most of the answers. They seek feedback. They live by the principle of the beginner’s mind, known as sho shin in Aikido.

A-players understand that growth isn’t a race — it’s a practice.

Those were the five traits of great hires. Next, let’s go over a few tips on identifying these top performers.

How to Test for It

There’s a plethora of hiring assessments. But whether you’re interviewing using a fancy piece of software or conducting all interviews in person, make sure you go in depth on the following:

→ Ask for story evidence.
“Tell me about a time you went beyond expectations.”
Then listen for context, decisions, and ownership.

→ Observe how they think under pressure.
Give them a real challenge your business faces.
Do they ask clarifying questions? Do they focus on trade-offs, not theory?

→ Check their “travel distance.”
Someone who’s had to push through difficulty — career pivots, side hustles, family responsibility — often carries more resilience than a résumé can show.

→ Validate with references that go deep.
Don’t just ask, “Would you rehire them?” Ask, “What did they change about how your team operated?”

Closing: The Real ROI of A-Players

A-players aren’t just productive employees. They’re force multipliers for your time, your systems, and your sanity. They’re the key to scalable, sustainable growth.

The real financial win isn’t in hiring cheaper — it’s in hiring smarter.