Will Kelly, founder of Military Lawn Cuts, breaks down three employee types: A players who drive results, B players who improve with training, and C players who need to go. He explains how to spot each type early and why removing C players fast protects your culture and keeps top talent.
I have been in the lawn care industry now for years. I have built Military Lawn Cuts to 3 locations, nearly 25 team members, and we are scaling hard in the Dallas-Fort Worth market. I have made every mistake in the book when it comes to people, and the one that cost me the most, the one that set me back the furthest more than anything else, was keeping the wrong people too long. That's what we're going to be talking about today. So we're gonna be talking about the A, the B, and then the C players. And more importantly, how to tell the difference between each before it's too late. Because here's what I see all the time. Managers come to me and say, "Will, I've got a solid team. I've got good people." And then I start asking questions. And what I find is they don't actually have A and B players. They actually have C players they've convinced themselves are B players. And that right there is one of the most dangerous places you can be as a leader. Let me break this down to you in very simplistic form. An A player shows up every single day. They are never late. They never call off. They're pulling into the parking lot 20 to 30 minutes before their shift even starts. They come in on Saturdays without being asked. They are passionate about doing what they are doing at their job. They're the first one in and the last one out, borderline almost obsessive. That could be almost unhealthy at times. They eat, breathe, and sleep this stuff. They give every ounce of their body and soul into this thing. They don't need to be pushed. They pull the entire team forward. B players are different, but don't sleep on them. They are consistently reliable. They show up, they do the work. They're not as passionate as the A players, but they do care. They want to deliver 5-star service. They want to get better each and every day. And here's the thing, it is our job as leaders to take that B player and give them the resources, the training, and the information they need to rise up and become a B+ or A-. That's the target. We set the tone. We create the environment, we equip them. And when we do that, the right B players become the backbone of the operations. Now for C players. C players call off, they're late. There is a lack of care that shows up in everything they do. Their attendance, their quality, their productivity. Let's just be honest. They're showing up for a paycheck. They don't believe in the mission. They don't believe in the purpose. They don't believe in the system, and it is impossible to hide. It bleeds into everything and everyone around them. They make the culture worse. They drag people down around them, whereas A players, they lift everybody up and rise to their level of expectation. And I train my leaders on this very clearly. When you identify a C player, there is No trying to lift them up. There is no saving them. They will not succeed here. They've got to go and they've got to go fast. Put your pride aside and understand that we are not going to be perfect at hiring. Nobody is. But the moment you identify a C-player has made it through that hiring process and gotten the job, it now becomes your job to remove them as quickly and as respectfully as possible. Because if you truly care about people, and I know you do, you want them to go find somewhere where they can succeed. Because honestly, it's not going to happen inside of this organization. Now let me tell you about a personal story here for a second that I lived through, okay, to hopefully help save you guys some pain. You see, when I first started building this company, guys would come to me and say, hey Will, I'm leaving, or they just quit out of nowhere with no notice, no 2-week notice, nothing like that. Or worse, they'd ghost me completely. And in the Army, we call that going AWOL. Guy just disappears. No call, no text. They'd even take our uniform shirts and disappear. And every time that happened, I would say to myself, man, it's the market. I got to find better employees. It's the economy. I was pointing fingers at everything else around me except myself. And here's what I had to come to terms with. It was me. I wasn't growing fast enough as a leader to catch it before it happened. I wasn't identifying the C players early enough on the team. I wasn't moving fast enough when I did. As I've grown as a leader, that has completely changed. People don't tell me they're leaving anymore. In fact, it's very, very rare. And I don't say that to boast. I say it because I want you to get there faster than I did. I'm the one saying, "You're not aligned with our core values. You're not a good fit, so goodbye." I catch it early, I move fast, and the team is better for it. Every time you let a C player stay one day longer than they should, you are sending a message to every A and B player on your team. You are telling them that mediocrity is acceptable here. And your best people, your A players, they are watching and they will leave before your C players do every single time. So here's what I want you to do. Stop right now and think about your team. In the last 6 months, how many people have walked out on you, that have left, that decided that they were not going to follow you as a leader? How many of them gave you a proper 2-week notice? How many just disappeared? If that number is more than 2, you need to stop looking at your team and start looking internally at yourself in the mirror, because the problem is not out there. The problem is the leader who hasn't developed the skill set to identify and remove the C players fast enough. We need to grow. We need to build the skill set to spot good talent early, develop our B players intentionally, and remove the C players without hesitation and without guilt. I got a question for you guys. Do you enjoy rebuilding your route and schedule last minute because somebody called off again? Do you enjoy the culture that C players create? Does it make it more fun and exciting to show up to work with those kinds of people? I can tell you firsthand, I don't want to hang out with C players. I'm just being honest. They drag everyone down. Every single new hire should be sharpening your team. Every hire should make you better, not worse. Here's what I want you to drop in the comments right now. I want you to tell me the hardest part of letting a C player go. Is it the guilt? Is it the fear of being short-staffed? Drop it below. I read every single one of the comments. And I want to know where you are stuck so I can help you guys. Because here's the truth that I'll leave you with: you are the ceiling of how big your operation gets. The team you tolerate is the team you deserve. When you raise your standard for who belongs inside of your organization, everything rises with it— your culture, your quality, your growth, all of it. Stop waiting for C players to change. Start building the team that makes you excited to come to work every single day. You see, that is the standard. Now go and set it. Guys, thank you so much for watching the video. Hit the like button if you got value and make sure you are subscribed to the channel if you want to build a $500,000 business.
