Standing out at work

There’s a famous saying, “Hire character, train skill.”

It can be easy to mistake someone’s personality for their character.

When someone is enthusiastic, good-natured and seems motivated, it’s indicative of their personality, not their character.

Some people appear very willing to learn - they nod their heads and agree with everything. By all intents and purposes, they should be performing brilliantly at work, but they end up producing rather poor results.

This is because a person can be extremely likeable because of their personality, but they can be ineffective as a worker because they lack the strength of character to build up their skills at work.

Great character is normally defined as a willingness to learn. The problem is that it’s easy to mistake someone’s enthusiasm as a willingness to learn. A person’s character is not just determined by their enthusiasm or interest, it’s determined by their effectiveness.

For example, if you need a care giver for your family and you decide to hire someone who doesn’t know how to take care of new born or toddler but appears willing to learn, you can quickly tell if they are indeed of that character.

Someone who is truly willing to learn will to be able to pick up the skills fairly quickly. This is because they can see that if a caregiver practices for 4 hours a day, they might have to put in 8 hours just so their skills can be at that same level.

When someone is passionate about something, they spend their free time trying to improve their skills in that area. They’re constantly experimenting and learning even outside of work. Always give someone a chance if they are willing to do it, and you will definitely reap rewards.

The biggest mistakes helper make is the unwillingness to learn.

Building a great personality and great character is equally important. It is when we are aware of how we can help our helpers grow in both areas… that they can really stand out wherever they are.