I asked two 'experts' to respond to two questions that came to me two nights ago when I was reading over your comments on what would make you impossibly good.
Here are the responses from the three people I asked --
Here are the responses from the three people I asked --
If you were looking to hire someone or add players to your team/organization, what would the #1 trait be that you'd look for?
Response #1
Honestly I want a culture fit #1, but a very close #2 has to be the ability to grow. That sounds easy, but I am finding we have a number of folks who really want to do a good job, but I am not convinced even with my help they will truly have the ability to be. I am not sure if that trait is intelligence or what, but I have been reflecting on that lately. The teacher evaluation piece really brings those things to light. The other thing it brings to light is that I have a great impact as a leader on our school and individuals, but I can't be everywhere with those that do struggle all the time and I wonder if they will truly ever improve.
Response #2
That's a tough question because you of course always look to make sure that someone has the core skills to effectively do the job, but I think even beyond that it's their commitment... not only to be at the job but growing in a job as well. Knowing that someone is committed to your company and will give you their best is very important. This is the type of individual that will put in the extra time to learn what they need to learn. They will be the employee that surpasses others because of their pure desire to do more and be more than they were yesterday. It's not always the highest degree obtained or the amount of money you made or the title you had at a previous job...it's what you did to make that job, that employee a better place.
Response #3
Commitment is one of the traits that we see are lacking in young adults today. They are more concerned about moving to a position or job that gives them more money, more freedom to do what they want to do, etc. They don’t have the patience to wait to be promoted or move up the ranks of a company. I would have to say for me that passion/drive would be a top trait I look for in candidates applying for positions. You can teach the other stuff, however, if you don’t have that passion or drive to want to do better or learn more than you will become a complacent employee which, in turn, could turn to an unhappy employee. In the end it is the passion that you have for your job that keeps you motivated to do more, learn more and to be happy and positive!
Just as an exercise in my College Comp 2 class, rank these traits in order of importance for us -
This is tough to rank. What I look for may vary by position. If I'm looking for a Supervisor, Leadership will be higher on the list; however, if you are passionate & positive you are a natural leader in my eyes, so it all really flows together. Content knowledge is very important, but if you don't already know something and you have all the other components...then you will learn.
My rankings are exactly the same as Sara’s with the exception of content knowledge and lifelong learner. I do agree with her comment that this is a tough rank and depending on the position you may rank one of these higher or lower than the other. I do feel that the combination of passion and being positive goes hand in hand. Passion helps drive you to be the best that you can be and being positive along the way helps you to build teamwork. Leadership follows after you have the team in place. I think content knowledge is important and that is why I ranked it higher than the lifelong learner. You still need to learn in order to continue to grow as an individual either personally or professionally.
Positivity 5 2 2
Life Long Learner 5 5 6
Passion 1 1 1
Team Work 3 3 3
Content knowledge 4 6 5
Leadership 6 4 4
Now, offer a comment in response to how the 'experts' (people who constantly evaluate their teams/employees and who do a great deal of hiring and firing) ranked these traits.
Thanks!!
Indeed passion is #1. Now Cal Newport, So Good They Can't Ignore You, would frown upon this. He'd probably rank Content Knowledge #1. However, I think what these three leaders are looking at is how passion is a byproduct of being really, really good at something (which Newport would absolutely love to hear).
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting to see content knowledge (which we spend so much time trying to drill into you) ranked so low. I wonder what you think of that?
I don't think it is that the 'experts' disregard content knowledge. Instead, I think that they realize with a whole lot of passion, a positive attitude, and the ability to work as a team, you can learn anything relevant to your job.
I ranked passion as number one as well, and that's because I believe if you become passionate about the field/job you are going into, everything else will fall into place, and I think that's what the experts were alluding to.
ReplyDeleteI would agree that passion plays a huge role, in making a business work. If everyone is passionate, things just work. Everyone will want to work together to make something better. Although, I would put positivity in a tie with the #1 spot. A positive environment is a productive environment. Positivity is contagious. If you have a few positive people on your team, everyone else is going to feed off of them. They will find inspiration from them.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the 'experts' opinions in that passion and positivity are essential traits for employees to have in order to create a productive environment in the workplace. One thing I would have to say I disagree with is that everyone ranked content knowledge and life-long learning quite low; I think that both of these are essential if you want to have a CAREER and not just a job. You will never have much room for advancement and fulfillment if you don't try to become an expert, or to be among the very best in your field. If you are the happiest, most passionate person applying for a job, but the next person has way better credentials and work related skills, it's likely you might get passed up.
ReplyDelete