Managing: care and feeding of top performers.

• Author: Marshall, Jeffrey
• Position: Strickland Group's advises

If managers truly want their A+ players at peak performance, they are going to have to help them understand exactly what it is they are doing right, and provide that feedback within the context of their organization and acknowledge just how it adds value.

So says The Strickland Group, whose primary practice revolves around coaching top performers in upper management in a wide variety of industries, nonprofits and countries. Strickland offers a list of strategies for keeping A+ players productive:

1. Look beyond the obvious rewards of pay and promotion to uncover what else makes the A+ players on your team want to kick it up a notch, keeping in mind that their needs and desires may be different from one another's, and from yours.

2. Tell the truth. Be direct and constructive in acknowledging flaws, and working as a partner with your top performers to create strategies to overcome them.

3. Catch your A+ players doing things right and give them a verbal pat on the back. Don't wait, and don't worry about swelling their heads.

4. Be specific when coaching the A+ players. For example, if Jamie excels at customer relationships but needs to work on relationships with internal peers, say so, and offer specific examples of good customer behavior--and good peer behavior.

5. Ask your A+ players for feedback. That may...