I have recently read a book containing quotes from Steve Jobs like his memoirs and the one thing that remained stuck to my mind is his philosophy of A Players and B, C players.

Recently built out a couple of products which I am working on building distribution for and in the process of it, I interacted with multiple people whom I can now classify as B and C players.

I understand calling myself an A player is boasting and massaging my own ego, but I also have enough self-awareness to classify myself a B player if someone better than me comes along and tags me the B player tag and justifies it with logic.

Steve jobs got famous for using the quote that at Apple we hire only A players because A players knows and identifies other A players and hire them.

B players get threatened by A players and therefore they go to a level below them and hire C players and that’s how the work ethic gets destroyed.

I’ve personally been a B player for the longest time, but the failures and my own resilience to stand back up has now finally given me the confidence and stability to now call myself an A player.

Steve never really defined A players, maybe it was obvious to him but to the folks reading I will try and share some attributes of A players and alongside some of B and C players which gets automatically defined.

A players not only know how to do things, they know how to get things done.

A players are obsessed, not with product or outcome but with everything along the chain.

A players are competitive as hell and which is why they’re rude and some part of the world calls them assholes as well, Super-pumped culture.

A players are self-aware, they know where they lack and seek active guidance.

A players are coachable, they take feedback and iterate on it almost immediately.

A player will know how to get things done in 8 hours, but will strive to get it done in 4 and actively work towards it. (Most important acc. to me)

A players don’t take shit easily, but when they do they ensure they don’t take shit for the same reason ever again.

Product built by A players can almost be defined and set apart by anyone than a product built by B or C player.

Having defined these attributes, you can now almost guess the characteristic traits of B and C players, but I will try and attempt to break-down them as well.