When businesses stagnate, executives often blame underperforming employees. However, Deepali Vyas, a recruiter with extensive experience interviewing over 50,000 executives, suggests that the primary issues aren't typically found among the lowest-ranking staff (C-players) or the highest-achieving individuals (A-players). Instead, she believes the main problem lies with those in the middle: the B-players.
TL;DR
- Recruiter Deepali Vyas believes B-players, not C-players, cause most business stagnation.
- A-players seek challenge and pressure, B-players seek credit and applause, C-players seek comfort.
- B-players are competent but insecure, blocking talent and slowing innovation for others.
- Vyas, with 50,000+ interviews, can instantly identify B-players and A-players.
“Most people think they’re A-players until they hear what an A-player actually is,” Vyas said in a TikTok video published last week.
Vyas, who has overseen executive recruitment and talent planning for prominent firms such as ZRG and Korn Ferry, asserts she can identify a B-player almost instantly, and an A-player even faster. She discusses this broke down the differences between the various worker types in her most recent TikTok video.
“A-players seek challenge, B-players seek credit, and C-players seek comfort,” she said. “A-players want pressure. They grow in it. B-players chase applause and hire C-players, who can hand them the credit. C-players just want to stay safe and unnoticed.”
Vyas states that A-players exhibit confidence, B-players are strategic, and C-players are “careful.”. However, she noted that while C-players attempt to “hide to avoid being wrong,”, the majority of issues within any company originate from B-players, “This is the part that no one tells you: C-players aren’t the real problem. B-players are,” she explained.
“B-players are competent but insecure,” she continued. “They perform well enough to get recognition but avoid anything that exposes gaps. They block talent, slow innovation, and lower the ceiling for everyone around them.
“B-players look competent while quietly damaging performance, blocking growth, and suffocating A-level talent. A-leaders avoid them, A-players outgrow them, and companies eventually push past them.”
You can watch Vyas’s full TikTok below:
@elite.recruiter The A/B/C Player Framework: A Players Pursue Pressure. B Players Pursue Recognition. C Players Pursue Ease. Many assume they're A players... Until they learn how A players truly function. Here's a reality often omitted by HR departments: 🔺 A players actively seek challenges. They desire pressure, constructive criticism, ambitious objectives, and individuals who enhance their performance. 🔸 B players aim for credit. They recruit subordinates, safeguard their self-esteem, and appear capable while subtly hindering the entire team's progress. 🔻 C players look for comfort. They steer clear of risks, avoid disagreements, shun development—and ultimately fall behind. With 25 years and over 50,000 executive interviews under my belt, I can identify a B player instantly... And I can certainly discern when an A player should be directly presented to my clients. To grasp how leaders genuinely categorize talent in private discussions... Reply with “ZOOM” and join my upcoming live webinar. I'll reveal the promotion strategies, influence dynamics, and unstated principles that determine advancement and quiet marginalization. My objective—to share what others conceal. #corporatetruths#careeradvice#eliterecruiter#officepolitics#aplayer♬ original sound – Elite Recruiter – Deepali Vyas