Character is a Choice So is Hiring
West Point prospers as they care deeply about character
We need to think how character is a choice while many other thngs are not. Remarkable quote here from my fellow West Pointer, Pete Kilner.
Notably, he goes on to say here that it is a critical choice. We find that it is true. 11 years into this business, and we have a 95% good hire rate. Furthermore we see the number is rising due to our added focus here. That is not luck. We knew what would make a good to great hire and aimed for it.
Character is a Choice and So is Becoming a Great Leader
We also understand leadership issues at a higher level, so I suppose that contributes. We see how they are hands on or not. However, we talk about trustworthy talent a lot as you need trustworthy and talent put together. No one else dares to put in the trustworthy. Some will talk about speed. They get you in trouble faster. We may lose a step when we kick out that great candidate as discovered he lacked the character to be a great hire. We think it is worth losing a week or even two to make a great hire instead of a hire with hidden poor character. See also Character Recruiting You Need.
Our experience is all great leaders have great character. However, there are people of character who have not learned to be great leaders. So both things need some focus to get the right hire. see also Do You Know If Your Candidate Have Enough Character?
While many companies may choose not to dig to uncover the character of a candidate, we know the strength of doing it.