Your team is one of the strongest building blocks in your company. It’s important that you start strong when creating your team. People really don't like to change, so investing time and energy on changing people can really destroy your company.

"The highest and best form of efficiency is the spontaneous cooperation of a free people" - Woodrow Wilson

Reading that quote makes me think of Wikipedia and other Open source projects that people opt in to co-create. You need to look for people with intrinsic motivation. People who want to work with you and want to fulfill your vision. Intrinsically motivated people have these characteristics:

• driven to develop themselves and their organization
• have emotional intelligence
• wants to contribute to something bigger than themselves
• optimistic and enthusiastic

What distinguish mediocre organizations with extraordinary ones are the people who are building them. You can’t expect that the organization will grow if your members don’t have the drive or talent. You need to hire A- players, people with talent that are willing to come to results and that quickly. This doesn't mean that your team should only have one A-player, but all of your members should be A-players, or at least have A-player prospects. The more talent, the higher qualities will your organization gain.

If you have more B-players and C-player instead of A-players, it’s very likely that you’ll lose a lot of advantage in the market. You might think that if you replace one C-player with a B- player you still have improved your organization’s position. But no, you’re still more fragile than those who have all A-players. Why lose market share when you in its place can hire people that care about improving the organization and not only isn't afraid of change, but actually follows it.

Negative People

Negative people pollute your company and more importantly restricts the mood and working pace of other team members. You know who these people are; they're those who revolt against the company’s principles because they think they know better than you. Nobody can really have a conversation with them without feeling uncomfortable. They make everyday communication into bothersome discussions. This makes you want to avoid them because they simply piss you off. If you refuse to fire those who snub to follow the principles of your organization and call for change, you basically rather wish to see your organization dye.

Difference between A- players and B-players

B-players aren't bad people that try to make things difficult for you, but they do need a lot of management and even though they work hard, they don't often take the risk of improving the position of your organization. They are cooperative and therefore good team members, though they are not as good resources as A- players. An A- player is someone that with their talent and dedication quickly becomes your organization’s leading light. They are trustworthy as they always want to improve the organization’s position in the market, they don’t need much guidance to independently be creative and honest, they do things with speed of action- knowing that this is the only way you quickly see weaknesses and strengths.

Coaching Your Team

To have a good team by your side, one thing is obvious, and that it that you should be a good tutor. A good tutor knows how to tutor B- players and C- players that have the potential of becoming A-players, and more importantly knows who the A-player is when seeing him/her. Look for people who dare to have their own ideas, who do not adjourn to authority and who do their utmost to face the challenges in their line of attack. A players kicks the sacred cows and points out the elephant in the room directly.

It’s very difficult to see who A- players are if you personally aren’t one. Don’t be anything but an A- player, love the challenge, strive for change!