Make Everyone an A Player on Your Team

 Over the years I have learned that not everyone wants to be an A Player, move up in the world, be in charges, and essentially, be a rockstar.  I learned this concept early on and over the years came to really understand this concept.  Here’s the thing - everyone on your team CAN be an A-Player Rockstar, in their own way.  I firmly believe every single person has a God Given talent/gift that only they have.  If you can learn how to bring this out of people (they often don’t even know it’s there or believe they are special in any way), you can not only change their lives forever, but make them more valuable in your business too.

               I learned of a concept called “Ferriter’s Ladder” when I was in my early 20’s working at my first big “corporate” job.  One of the heads of another department shared this concept with me, and I will forever be grateful.  The concept essentially shows you a pyramid and there are 4 levels.  The bottom level is the majority of people: Problem Creators.  The next level up is what I think are really more common: Problem Identifiers.  You know these people; they are GREAT at telling you everything that is wrong with your business, your car, your house, heck, your carrot cake recipe - but never seem to have anything to correct on themselves.  These people often find themselves very valuable, and at first you might find it very endearing that they continue to come to you with problems you get to step in and solve, but over time, you’ll find you’re solving the same problems, and that the person doesn’t seem to do anything to help solve it themselves. 

               The next level is where many people stop.  Put a fork in them, they’re done.  This level is Problem Solvers.  Many leaders and managers like to stay here because, well, they feel important.  They’re the “go-to.”  Everyone needs them.  This type of leader can be very dangerous and in fact, I don’t believe they are a leader at all - this type of manager can often gatekeep & feel so important in their role that they hesitate to share with others their “secrets” or “tricks of the trade” because then they feel they won’t be as valuable.  The issue with this is that they do not realize that by lifting others up & teaching them, guiding them, and coaching them, they do also make themselves more valuable.  The more we can accomplish through others makes us truly more valuable as well.  But, fear based leadership consistently keeps people stuck at this 3rd level - Problem Solver.  Another issue with this is that problems never stop coming.  Over time you’re solving the same problem every single week, while also piling on new problems - it’s unsustainable!  This then creates burnout.  I think of a manager at an office who’s been in their manager role for 25 years, never moving up.  They know everything about everything & you don’t want to be on their bad side.  They are angry & standoffish.  They spend more time in their office & yelling at people than actually leading anyone.  To me, that is not leadership.  That is someone stuck on the 3rd Level. 

               The next level (the top) is where things really get fun.  This is the Problem Preventer.  Here’s how it looks.  When a problem comes your way, obviously, priority number one is to solve it.  You have to.  However, the next part is where the magic happens.  Take some “thinking time” (we will talk about thinking time later) - and sit down with this problem.  How did it happen?  What was the source of the problem?  What needs to happen so that this problem never happens again?  There is usually a solution deep (sometimes really deep) within a system that can be the main source of the issue.  Now, preventing problems isn’t easy because it usually involves a system that people have been doing for a while needing to change.  Change isn’t easy.  Sometimes it’s a very tough conversation.  Maybe it’s a new checklist.  Maybe it’s new technology that needs to be implemented.  Maybe someone has to be let go.  There is always, though, deep within a system, a reason for your continuous problems.  It takes time for you to sit & dig deep to figure out how to prevent the problem from ever happening again. 

               So, how does this make everyone a rockstar?  That is where you come in!  Share Ferriter’s ladder with your team.  Better yet, take your roster (or your list of 2 people - that is ok), and define where they are in the pyramid.  By taking them up just one level, you already are making positive changes!  Where do you rank?  It’s a habit to get into, but over time, everytime you solve a problem, write it down.  You could even keep a list every week of “Running Problems.”  Then, set aside time every week to think and look deep into the problem.  Often times, you might have to hone in on a checklist, a spreadsheet, some number crunching might be involved.  You may have to sit & really think about how the situation went down.  Pick one at a time & tackle it.  Make a plan.  Little by little, you will prevent these perpetual problems from happening.  Once you’ve accomplished that, introduce the concept to your team.  Get in the habit when someone brings you a problem, to require them to not only solve the problem (which you may need to step in and help depending on the severity of it), and then require them within a week to bring you an idea to prevent the problem from ever happening again.  Over time, your whole team will get involved and you will be preventing problems left and right.  With a serious commitment to this, you will be astounded at the amount of headaches and issues you remove from your company and from your life.