I was really touched by an article that I read by Court Crandall about Players Of Character.   He cites the character of 2 of his employees and how it changed his business for the better.  He also cites an NFL coach who decided to recruit players of character to his team, again, for the better.

[Noah] Clark interviewed to be my assistant a couple weeks before he was scheduled to graduate from the University of Southern California. Unlike the other finalist for the job...  He was just so damn eager to be in the business. There was no pretense, no attitude or entitlement. All he wanted to do was work hard, learn and help...

Like Harvey Keitel in Pulp Fiction, Noah was the guy who fixed things, no matter how screwed up they might have been when someone dumped them in his lap. When another art director left on vacation, Noah picked up the slack. When another team dropped the meat in the dirt, he picked up the pieces....

Where Noah figuratively cleaned up after the rest of the office, Ana de Paz physically did. She was the other third of the early morning crew, pushing a shopping cart full of groceries down Maxella toward the agency every morning because she didn't own a car. Somewhere between the time I'd drop my keys on my desk and the time I'd check my first e-mail, I'd smell quesadillas wafting from the other end of the building....

Unlike many ad folks who casually throw out the terms "community" and "family," Ana lived them. She fed us. She cleaned up after us and watched over us. Every day.

Why do I bring all this up? Because it occurs to me that more and more, ours is becoming a business obsessed with skill sets. "Does he know Flash?" "Is she versed in new media?" "Can they build a site map?" No doubt, these are important questions to ask, but so are some others. Like, "Will he treat my agency as if it's his agency?" "Will she put the client's best interest above her own?" "Will the rest of us be better for having spent 10 hours a day with them?" What I'm getting at is that in our quest to find the most qualified applicants, I'm worried that all too often we overlook the best person for the job -- the people like Noah and Ana.

Patriot coaches always said the same thing each draft day: "We're looking for the best athlete available." And so, year after year, the Pats would add more hyper-talented athletes to their roster. And each year, the organization continued to flounder.

Then Bill Belichick came along and changed the philosophy. He said, "We're looking for players of character." It defied what everyone else claimed to be after, but I liked the sound of it: Players of character.

                                                                                     from Players of Character

It's obvious to  me that there's huge value in character - people who's main motivator is doing the right thing.    I'm reminded of a time that I hired both the "qualified" and the "player of character".  The one who was most qualified was a complete disappointment.  Many tasks were either not completed at all or not completed well.  While the "player of character" always seemed to get things done and done well.  Needless to say, the "qualified" didn't last long, while my experience with the "player of character" was great.    Even though I had to do some training, I could count on her to treat my customers as her customers, my business as her business.

So how about you?  How have you been affected by "players of character"?  Has someone changed you for the better?  Have you chosen the wrong person and regretted it?  Have you chosen the right person, even tough they, at first, didn't appear to be the most qualified?   Have you been the "player of character", what was the result? 

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Sandy Jagmin

Brick Road Visuals

Professional Virtual Tours in Northwest Arkansas

www.BrickRoadVisuals.com