Dictionary defines character as, “possessing those attributes of ethics, integrity, and morality that distinguish one individual from another.”
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said, “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” Although he was speaking primarily to spotlight racial issues, the baseline is the same: character.
When I teach the NCAA-required Life Skills course for freshmen athletes at the University of Dayton, I constantly remind the students to be more concerned with their character than with their reputations. Character is what you really are. Your reputation is what people think you are.
I’m quite often asked the question:
Can I change my character? My answer is—we certainly can improve it because we own it. It is who we are and we influence it every day by all of our actions. It represents everything we think, everything we say, and everything we do!
Every hiring decision must start with character and it’s not negotiable.
What you do with what you’ve got is about “talent.” Talent, according to Buckingham and Coffman defines the “why” and the “how” of a person. They go on to say, “Your own skills and knowledge are relatively easy to identify. You had to acquire them, and therefore they are apart and distinct. They are ‘Not you.’ But your talents? Your talents are simply your recurring patterns of behavior. They are your very essence and they are the “what.” It takes a rare objectivity to be able to stand back from yourself and pick the unique patterns that make you You!”
The next question that had to be answered as we rebuilt our sales force was: What were the attributes, qualities and behaviors of our most talented employees?
The first attribute is competitiveness. It was an absolute requirement in our selection and hiring. I could make a strong case for organizations requiring people with a competitive spirit, in most positions. While being competitive is often associated with athletics and testosterone, I’ve found it in academics, business, and a myriad of other circumstances where there was recognition, a prize, or profit associated with the results.
One of my greatest surprises and proudest moments as a parent came when both of our sons were members of the John Carroll Catholic High School Concert Choir in Birmingham, Alabama. Though both boys were athletes, each would tell you unequivocally that the greatest coach they had in high school was Ken Berg, the choir director. The competition in and around that experience was intense, from tryouts to international competition. Not only did they learn how to make beautiful music, they learned what it was like to compete and win in the most beautiful of circumstances.
The person you hire need not be an athlete or have played competitive sports. However, it’s crucial they have some background of competition or some evidence that the person you’re hiring understands what it means to be competitive.
The second critical attribute is commitment. Webster’s definition of commitment is “the act of pledging oneself to a particular position or the state of being bound emotionally or intellectually to something.” Unless an individual has been bound to something and has been involved from beginning to end, there is little chance that commitment can be otherwise taught.
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