What Companies Look for When Hiring & Advancing People...

Years ago, I was sitting with the Chairman of a Fortune 100 retailer and we had the CEO of another company, in a different industry, on a conference call. We were all informally discussing the characteristics they each look for when identifying the next generation of leaders for their companies. While both executives said that the right people had to be competent to be considered, they both made the point that hiring based on character, aligned values, and passion for the business was most important; the rest could be trained/learned along the way.

It’s been my experience over the years that the above insights about the importance of character surprise a lot of people. Mostly, I think, because it’s common for people trying to get noticed, hired, or advanced in an organization to be focused on their individual competence and performance. Believing that focusing on their skills, talents, education, knowledge, and track record will make all the difference.

However, what I've experienced is that, while certainly important, competence is often only the price of admission. Competence doesn’t seem to make the impact that great character, aligned values, and passion for the business do; especially when it comes to advancement.

Think about it this way. For organizations to function optimally, people need to treat each other and their customers well. This often calls upon a person's character more than their competence. This is why I suggest it's important for organizations to prioritize finding people who are authentically in alignment with their values and culture, people who honestly and passionately care about the work the organization is doing in the world, and people who demonstrate the commitment and character to consistently perform in alignment with all of these things.

This is why I think it's so important for each of us to understand ourselves well enough to articulate these things about ourselves to others. Which also translates into learning about the organization's character, values, purpose, and culture so we can know when we're aligned and when we're not.

In my experience, great character will breed development of great competence not only within the individual employee, but within the entire team, department, and organization.

What do you think? Based on your experience, does this resonate with you? What do you look for when hiring and advancing people? Comment below...

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Excerpt from How To CRUSH That Career Thing, by Kirk Anderson, www.sfcsuite.com

YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@KirkAnderson-SFCSUITE/featured

ActionPointe LLC Website:? www.actionpointe.net??

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