The Elite Edge: 📈 The Rise of A-Player Economics: Why the Top 10% Are Pulling Away in 2026 🚀
Doing The Research For You.
Deepali Vyas
December 15, 2025
In partnership with
Elite Edge | Week 65
📈 The Rise of A-Player Economics: Why the Top 10% Are Pulling Away in 2026 🚀
Welcome to Week 2 of my 4-Week Year-in-Review + Predictions Series.
Last week, we talked about The Great Unbundling of Careers — how the ladder collapsed and careers became modular.
This week, we go one layer deeper.
Because once careers unbundled…
value concentrated.
🔥 THE RISE OF A-PLAYER ECONOMICS
2025 made one thing painfully clear:
The workplace is no longer built around fairness.
It’s built around leverage.
And leverage belongs to A players.
What the data showed in 2025:
The top 10% of performers captured 40–50% of total team value
A players earned 1.8–2x more than B players in identical roles
A players were protected during restructures while B players were “reassessed”
C players were exited — quietly or not so quietly
The middle got squeezed.
The top pulled away.
This isn’t harsh — it’s structural.
🧠 The Truth Leaders Don’t Say Out Loud
Leaders don’t reward effort.
They reward judgment, ownership, and impact under uncertainty.
A players:
Solve ambiguous problems without waiting
Create clarity where none exists
Make decisions with imperfect information
Elevate the people around them
Learn faster than the role demands
B players wait for direction.
C players wait for protection.
In 2026, waiting is no longer neutral — it’s a liability.
🔮 Additional Market Predictions for 2026
Here’s what I’m seeing across boardrooms, search mandates, and leadership conversations:
A-player premiums will cross 2x in comp, access, and opportunity
Companies will explicitly tier talent (A/B/C), even if they don’t say it publicly
B players will face automation + consolidation pressure
A players will be offered fractional, advisory, and stretch roles before jobs are posted
Visibility + judgment will matter more than tenure or credentials
Translation:
If leadership can’t see your value — they won’t infer it.
📚What I Read (and LOVED) This Week…
📰 Fortune: “Are B Players Sinking Your Company?”
Fortune published a follow up article that spotlights the real cost of having too many B players in an organization — slower innovation, lower ceilings on growth, and a performance dynamic that holds everyone back.
And guess whose voice is in that conversation? (You guessed it…yours truly!)
This isn’t corporate clickbait.
This is the real reason leaders are paying attention to performance tiers — and why A players command disproportionate influence, compensation, and opportunity.
This article isn’t about harsh labels —
it’s about the impact of behaviors and contribution patterns that shape organizational outcomes.
Read it. Internalize it.
Then ask yourself:
Which player am I showing up as — and how do I signal the other leaders in my orbit that I am the value creator they need?
🎙️What I Listened to This Week… (Podcasts)
😂 Meme of the Week
📩 SCRIPT: LAST-MINUTE JOB APPLICATION OUTREACH
If you’re applying late — or following up — do not apologize. Signal value.
Use this instead:
Hi [Name],
I wanted to follow up directly because this role aligns closely with the problems I’ve been solving around [specific business challenge].
I bring a track record of driving impact in ambiguous environments, and I’d welcome a conversation to explore whether that experience is useful to your team.
Best,
[Your Name]
No begging.
No over-explaining.
Just A-player posture.
💬 FINAL WORD
A-player economics aren’t about ego.
They’re about agency.
The market doesn’t reward effort.
It rewards people who can decide, deliver, and adapt when the rules change.
2026 will widen the gap between those who wait…
and those who move with intention.
I’ll keep giving you the frameworks, the data, and the truth.
Your job is to step into your value — visibly and unapologetically.
You’ve got the Edge. Now sharpen it.
Until next week,
— Deepali Vyas
Your Elite Recruiter
Doing the research so you don’t have to.
✨UPCOMING WEBINARS✨
🎓 WEBINARS + LIVES (AND THANK YOU)
I’ve gone live twice in the past two weeks, and the DMs, comments, and questions have been incredible.
Thank you for:
Engaging thoughtfully
Asking smart questions
Pushing the conversation forward
I’ll be doing more lives, more Q&As, and more deep dives — especially as we head into the new year.
🎓 Two Remaining December Webinars
I’m rolling out two high-impact career webinars this month:
Saturday, December 20th @ 10am EST
Tuesday, December 30th @ 7pm EST
Book your spot here 👉 https://careergameplan.youcanbook.me
These are deep-dive strategy sessions designed to help you reset, reposition, and get ahead of the competition.
💼 This Week’s Elite Job Drops 💼
💼 Exclusive Job Drops — Before They Hit the Market
These openings are under the radar — not on LinkedIn, not on job boards. I’m sharing them here first, straight from my insider network.
✨ ELITE RESOURCES ✨
7 Actionable Ways to Achieve a Comfortable Retirement
Your dream retirement isn’t going to fund itself—that’s what your portfolio is for.
When generating income for a comfortable retirement, there are countless options to weigh. Muni bonds, dividends, REITs, Master Limited Partnerships—each comes with risk and oppor-tunity.
The Definitive Guide to Retirement Income from Fisher investments shows you ways you can position your portfolio to help you maintain or improve your lifestyle in retirement.
It also highlights common mistakes, such as tax mistakes, that can make a substantial differ-ence as you plan your well-deserved future.
Your résumé and LinkedIn are no longer paperwork — they’re economic assets.
My Resume Fix, LinkedIn Overhaul, and Power Presence Package are live — built with my elite recruiting team to help you show up as an A player, not blend in as a B.
I know my personal calendar is limited — that’s exactly why I’m bringing in an elite coaching team trained in the same frameworks and standards.
👉 All services + coaching info here:
https://www.deepalivyas.com/products
🌟 How To Work With Me 🤝🏻
🎥 FOLLOW ME
🔥 ELITE RECRUITER ON THE MARCH TO 1 MILLION
🎁 Free Giveaways — Competition still open
I’m giving away 3 Free 1:1 coaching sessions with me — so tell me your story and you might be the lucky winner 😃
I want to help as many people as possible — and this is my way of giving back to the community that continues to grow with me.
Feedback is a Gift
I would love to know what you thought of this newsletter and any feedback you have for me. Do you have a favorite part? Wish I would add something? Felt confused? Please reply and share your thoughts!