“A” Player Decision Making

The concepts of Topgrading, the bestselling hiring /staffing book by Brad Smart, align well with our Performance-Based approach to hiring.

Brad Smart’s blog has a great article on how “A” Players make decisions.  Here’s a quick summary:

• • Fast Learning: Smart says “A”s learn at warp speed who figure things out quickly.
  • Fast Analysis: “A”s incorporate input from others, look at complexity easily, and with their bias toward action, do a complete thorough analysis quickly.  Even when they do “ready fire aim”, they validate their decision afterward with analysis.
  • Connecting the Dots: They get groups unstuck, and enable team members to see a good solution as congruent.
  • Actually MAKE Decisions: Sometimes shooting from the hip, “A”s are always decisive.
  • Execute After the Decision: Following through to make sure things happen.

Smart adds that passion and resourcefulness are key traits of “A” Players, saying they have  “energized passion tempered by patience and turbo-boosted by resourcefulness.”