Stop Wasting Your Time on C Players: Why Your Best People Leave
The lie every leader tells themselves about top performers, and why unattended A-players will quietly walk out the door.
Today, we’re shifting our focus into the People trial marker, and we’re tackling a massive misconception that trips up business owners and team leaders every single day.
Here’s the lie we tell ourselves:
“My A-players perform well on their own. I don’t need to baby them. I need to concentrate my time, money, and coaching on turning my C-players into B-players and B-players into A-players.”
It sounds logical on paper, right? The struggling team members need the most help, so that’s where you invest your training and energy.
I want to strongly caution you against this mindset.
If you want a thriving, scalable business, you must invest more time, energy, and resources into your A-players than anyone else. Here is why this myth is hurting your team, and what you need to do instead.
3 Key Takeaways:
- Competence Isn’t Fixed: Even if your top talent stays sharp, the market and industry move fast. Without continuous investment, yesterday’s excellence becomes tomorrow’s incompetence.
- Top Performers Leave Quietly: A-players won’t cause drama or make a scene. If they feel unrewarded and unvalued, they will simply take a new opportunity and walk away.
- Double Down on What Works: Your A-players drive the culture, lead others, and deliver the highest ROI. Pouring all your energy into “troublesome” C-players drains your business.
Myth #1: “A-Players Maintain Themselves”
It’s easy to assume that once someone reaches “A-player” status, they stay there automatically. They’ve got the right mix of attitude, aptitude, and skill. They love the culture, care for your clients, and embody great leadership.
So, you leave them alone to run.
Here’s the flaw: the world is constantly shifting around them.
“Even if an A-player stays still as an awesome, competent person, the world around them is moving. By doing nothing, they eventually become incompetent.”
When you neglect your top talent’s development under the assumption that they don’t need you, you inadvertently send a clear message: It’s not worth giving 100% here, because the troublesome child gets all the attention.
The Hidden Danger: A-Players Leave Quietly
When a C-player has an issue, you usually hear about it through missed deadlines, client complaints, or friction within the team.
A-players are different. They don’t throw tantrums. They evaluate the relationship pragmatically: What am I investing into this company, and what is this company investing into me?
If they spend their energy pulling the weight of the business while you pour all your training budgets, 1-on-1s, and rewards into underperformers, your top talent won’t argue. They’ll just move on.
One day, they’ll walk into your office and announce they’re moving cities, taking a new opportunity, or starting a new venture. Your best people leave quietly.
Great Vision Is Irrelevant Without Great People
Jim Collins famously wrote that great people matter more than a great vision. In fact, his exact quote is:
“Great vision without great people is irrelevant.”
Being a “great person” or an “A-player” isn’t a permanent title you achieve once and keep forever. It’s a dynamic state that requires continuous culture, personal connection, and real investment.
If you leave great people unattended, they will wander off.
A-PLAYERS B-PLAYERS C-PLAYERS
┌───────────────────────┐ ┌───────────────────────┐ ┌───────────────────────┐
│ • Drive company growth│ │ • Steady performers │ │ • Require high effort │
│ • Need ongoing growth │ │ • Potential to grow │ │ • Low ROI on time │
│ 👉 INVEST HERE FIRST │ │ 👉 DEVELOP STEADILY │ │ 👉 MOVE OUT OF BIZ │
└───────────────────────┘ └───────────────────────┘ └───────────────────────┘
Your Action Item for This Week
Take 15 minutes this week to audit your team (and this applies to your vendors and clients, too!):
- Identify your A-players: Your top drivers, culture setters, and high performers.
- Identify your B-players: Your reliable, solid team members who keep things running smoothly.
- Identify your C-players: Those who consistently struggle or drain morale.
If someone is a true C-player and isn’t moving up, do everything you can to transition them out of the business as quickly and respectfully as possible.
More importantly: Look at your calendar. Are you spending the majority of your 1-on-1 time, praise, development funds, and strategic opportunities on your A-players?
If not, change your pattern of behavior today. Your A-players are the ones who build your future. Protect them, reward them, and keep growing them.
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As always, enjoy the journey.
Thanks for reading The Forged Leader!
This article was unpacked further in a recent Monday Myth Check.
Watch the full conversation below: