The A-Player Blueprint

I have found one specific, real, superpower to be my greatest asset in my career. I think it is the foundational piece that has led to my promotions, raises, and genuine contentment at work. The best part is that it is a completely coachable skill that you can learn to become an A-player.

So what is it? What is the one superpower that has proven to be so helpful to me?

It’s: Building Rapport

But when I say ‘Building Rapport’ I don’t mean kissing up. I don’t simply mean getting others to like you. What I am about to show you is a type of rapport-building that is focused far more on building helpful and productive relationships at work and far less on simply winning the popularity contest. As you are about to see, this approach is a very strategic, intentional step by step guide to creating healthy and helpful work relationships.

Have you ever seen a Speed Dating scene in a movie? Guys and girls change seats every few minutes so they can quickly meet people and see who they click with. It’s a bunch of awkward small talk and insecurities and no game plan. Just throwing darts at a board and hoping something works out.

Luckily, our version is not nearly as uncomfortable. But the goal of speed dating (or a dating app) is to “meet” a bunch of people and find someone you connect with. There is an inherent piece of that where you have to build some level of rapport in order to move forward.

Speed Dating at work is way less pressure and much simpler: Have 30-minute “meet & greet” meetings with your teammates 1:1 as well as any peer teammates in other departments. Pro tip - don’t call it speed dating on your meeting invites. Don’t make it weird (haha).

When you meet with these teammates - you are looking to accomplish 3 things that will set you up to be a rapport-building rockstar.

In this section I want to talk to you about an idea that we have named the ‘Foxhole Principle.’ And I am SO pumped to talk to you about this simply because it is hands down the biggest career hack out there when it comes to creating healthy and productive rapport with your co-workers and somehow it is often overlooked and underrated.

In case you’re unfamiliar- a foxhole is a military term for a small pit dug during acts of war to provide individual shelter against hostile fire. Now - I really hope your place of work is not equivalent to taking hostile fire in warfare. However, when soldiers are in a literal foxhole together, they are completely aligned on their mission. They are looking out for each other. They are prepared to do whatever it takes to protect each other and their common goals.

This third principle focuses primarily on building rapport with your boss.

I’ll cover it at a high level here. Did you ever have that game “barrel of monkeys” when you were a kid? You dump them all out and then you have to link them, one by one, using only one hand. That game was harder and harder the more monkeys you were trying to manage.

Think of each of your responsibilities at work as a monkey in your barrel. And note that your boss has his or her own barrel full of monkeys for their role as well. The kicker, though, is that they are not just responsible for theirs. They are also responsible to make sure you are handling all of yours well, too. And anyone else who reports to them.

Okay - are you done talking about monkeys? Well— almost.

You did it! You have finished our first section of the A Player Blueprint.

These ideas we shared with you are tried and true and we have personally used all of these methods and mindsets in order to win at work and there has been a massive payoff from doing so.

There’s an old African proverb that says “if you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” As long as you work at an organization with other people - building rapport with them is going to be absolutely foundational in your success. I always joke with teams I lead that “no one wants to work with people who suck. So don’t suck.”

The second section of the A-Player Blueprint is all about Execution.

This is probably what most people think about when they think of A-Players. They think of Individuals that can operate at a very high level. Individuals that have loads of energy, never seem to tire out, and love a good challenge. But frankly, there is a right way and a wrong way to execute. The right way will help you to work efficiently, quickly, and effectively. The wrong way will leave you exhausted and burned out. We want you thriving at work and hitting all of your goals and all of your metrics.

Let's jump in and I’ll show you what A-Players do differently than most.

It's hard to underestimate how important focus is when it comes to winning at work. It means everything. And it will be nearly impossible for you to become an ‘A player’ without it.

And I don’t just mean that you stay off social media while you’re at work, or that you just put your head down and do nothing but work 12 hours a day. Because you can be the hardest worker in the office, putting in the most hours, working weekends, and still be a very average employee. None of that amounts to much without focus.

In this video lesson we want to go a little further into a concept that we have touched on briefly that you’re probably familiar with: Time Management. But actually - I don’t want to teach you how to schedule your calendar or workflows to make everything more efficient for time sake. What I want to teach you is actually Priority Management.

You can manage your time like an absolute boss and still not be effective because you’re spending it on the wrong things. Every ‘A-player’ I have ever met is a priority management ninja– not just good time managers. They have an almost 6th sense for identifying what activities are going to be productive and what activities are not. They don’t waste a lot of time and you won’t find them mired in busy-work or activities that don’t produce results.

This next principle is all about sustainability. It is, in my opinion, the most important principle when talking about execution.

This particular topic gets overlooked a lot. Most people only want to talk about the productivity hacks, the tips and tricks that will help you shoot through the ranks at your company. And all of that is great, that’s what this course is all about, but if that is all the information you have. If you walk away from this course armed with only information that teaches you how to run 100mph then we will have done you a disservice.

Alright you made it through section 2! That concludes the 2nd skill set you need to become an A-Player. You now know exactly what high-level, elite execution looks like in a corporate environment. It’s focused, it’s efficient, it produces results, and it’s sustainable.

Welcome to the third and final skill set of the A-Player Blueprint!

We’ve identified two crucial skill sets to becoming an A-Player so far: building rapport and execution. The third and final skill set will honestly be the deal breaker on becoming an A Player. You can build rapport like a boss and execute like an expert but neither of those matter if you do not hone the third skill - which is being an effective communicator. Wow - such groundbreaking information (sarcastic). I know, I know. But trust us, the information you will learn in this section will be critical to your success.

The first tactic to being a dynamite communicator is really a question. There is one magical question that will make a distinguishable difference in your execution at work. It will determine what you do, when you do it, and how you do it. It’s really simple. But makes a huge difference!

That is the second tactic of good communication is data storytelling.

Oh man, this one gets me all excited! Telling a story with data is a massively underrated skill that has made me nearly indispensable in several roles. I don’t say that to sound arrogant. I say it because my experience has simply proven how effective it is. It’s tried and true.

So - what is data storytelling? Let's find out!

This final piece of the communication framework is very simple but has a pretty bizarre twist, because the principle we are about to discuss, was undoubtedly the most shocking and surprising truth that I came across during my tenure in corporate America and I’m excited to talk to you about it.

In fact, when it came to naming this video lesson I debated calling it ‘Corporate America’s Dirty Little Secret’ because, as you are about to see, this principle has a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde quality to it. That is, it can be a wonderful asset to you, or it can be a horrible liability. Let's dig in.

That’s a wrap 3rd section of the A-Player Blueprint. Communication is the spark that will ignite your career. It’s hard to overstate just how important this is.

So don’t sleep on this skill. We’ve given you three very effective ways for you to improve your communication. Understand the why, master data storytelling, and always be clear. Reference your workbook and start applying these ideas as soon as you can. You’ll be glad you did.

You did it! You have made it through the entire A-Player Blueprint! I think you’ve now seen how absolutely critical it is to build rapport, execute at an elite level, and be an effective communicator. We would not be where we are today without these skill sets and we are so excited for you to be in a much better spot earlier in your career than we were.

But - there’s one catch to all this. You went through the training! Now it’s time to actually put it into action. Tools are no good if you don’t use them. That would be like buying a gym membership, driving there, and sitting in the parking lot expecting to lose weight. What a waste!

And don’t forget - with this course, you received templates for all the exercises we taught you, scripts for navigating some of the conversations you’ll need to have, and a clear list of action items to guide you as you embark on this amazing journey to become an A-Player. We really wanted to set you up for success so use those tools and watch what happens.

This blueprint changed our lives. We’re excited to see it change yours, too.

Also don't forget to sign up for our free coaching! We'd love to continue the journey alongside you!