Let's hear it for the "B" team!
Category Everything Else
I read an interesting article in Computerworld today. It's titled Nurture The B Team by Vineeta Vijayaraghavan. The article talks about the vast number of IT staff that would be considered "B" team players in their organization. The "A" team consists of the people who are the stars, the ones getting the huge bonuses and who seem to be the center of attention. And of course, you have the "C" team which are the ones who probably shouldn't have gone into IT in the first place. But the "B" team are the ones who quietly work behind the scenes and pull the organization's weight behind them. They have a temperment that doesn't demand that they get their way or that they always be front and center. Also, they tend to be very influential as they can get things done through indirect channels that others don't normally recognize.
As a consultant, I feel that talented "B" players are valuable. Too often, the "A" player personality comes off as arrogant, that you can't tell them anything that they don't already know. That's why they are a consultant, right? But the temperment of a "B" player is what counts with the client. Building up trust and long-term relationships... Working WITH the client to solve the problems that they face... Being willing to admit that you may not know all the answers right away, but you'll work hard to get those answers as needed.
So what are your views? Do you consider yourself an "A", "B", or "C" player?
(But if you were a "C" player, would you admit it to the 10 people who are reading this blog?
)
I read an interesting article in Computerworld today. It's titled Nurture The B Team by Vineeta Vijayaraghavan. The article talks about the vast number of IT staff that would be considered "B" team players in their organization. The "A" team consists of the people who are the stars, the ones getting the huge bonuses and who seem to be the center of attention. And of course, you have the "C" team which are the ones who probably shouldn't have gone into IT in the first place. But the "B" team are the ones who quietly work behind the scenes and pull the organization's weight behind them. They have a temperment that doesn't demand that they get their way or that they always be front and center. Also, they tend to be very influential as they can get things done through indirect channels that others don't normally recognize.
As a consultant, I feel that talented "B" players are valuable. Too often, the "A" player personality comes off as arrogant, that you can't tell them anything that they don't already know. That's why they are a consultant, right? But the temperment of a "B" player is what counts with the client. Building up trust and long-term relationships... Working WITH the client to solve the problems that they face... Being willing to admit that you may not know all the answers right away, but you'll work hard to get those answers as needed.
So what are your views? Do you consider yourself an "A", "B", or "C" player?
(But if you were a "C" player, would you admit it to the 10 people who are reading this blog?
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Comments
-rich
Posted by Richard Schwartz At 16:19:45 On 19/06/2003 | - Website - |
Posted by jonvon At 19:16:35 On 21/06/2003 | - Website - |
Posted by Chris Miller At 08:14:36 On 23/06/2003 | - Website - |
Posted by Ben Langhinrichs At 13:29:49 On 19/06/2003 | - Website - |
Or I can be all by myself like Ben and be ALL of them at once! :-)
Posted by Tom Duff At 17:35:23 On 19/06/2003 | - Website - |