Hire for Character, Train for Skills!

We, out of necessity, must look outside the proverbial "box" when hiring today. For many years we have had most of the focus on an applicants skills, i.e. degrees, certifications, grades, etc. Once hired, we assumed they had the Integrity we expected. It is time to divert some of those hiring energies into investigating the foundation to all skills, character.

I pose a simple question, what good is a master's degree from the prestigious Harvard Business School (4.7 GPA) if the person does not show up (dependability) for work? Where is the ROI when you spend many months training a person that you have to fire or they quit? Even worse, what do you do when this great hire becomes your worst nightmare and negatively impacts the whole team? What you do is wish you could turn the clock back so you could "not" hire them.

Let's start emphasizing the importance of character at the start of the hiring process. Begin by holding yourself to a higher standard, fix your mistakes (like I'm sorry), and start celebrating other people when they make right choices, i.e. Character.

Character is so important the new dean of the Harvest Business School recently shared the focus at this great school. Competence and Character.

Take a look at the sample hiring guide here.
http://www.characterfirst.com/assets/Files/CharacterHiring.pdf

Character First Membership Program, Benefit (#3)

Use the Character First Member Organization logo on your website. Tell the world why character is important to your company but more importantly, tell them what you are doing about it.
Members will receive our new member logo and we, Character First, will post your companies logo on our website. When someone wants to find an organization in a specific industry, we can share who is doing something positive about their character culture.

My son Mike

This was taken during a game against the two time state champions. Mike scored 32 points during this game and thrilled the spectators with daring drives.

Once again, I sent this from my iPhone now that I can blog from my phone. Cool!!!!!

Character First Membership Benefit (#2)

Actually, this should be benefit number one. We are looking for organizations where character is already important.

You already understand that a good reputation trumps the bottom line, that your people are your greatest asset, and integrity is priceless, we need to connect.

If you want to make a lasting impact on your community by uniting with other organizations with similar goals and direction, a Character First Membership is a great way to go.

Character First Membership Program (#1)

I plan to share with everyone the "NEW" Character First Membership Program and the benefits of joining. Here is reason #1:






Use this new logo on your website and literature. Your customers and clients can click on this link so they can read more about what is important to your organization. How much value is there in sharing how truthfulness, dependability, and thoroughness are to your company? What if we help you show "the world" not only what you believe but what you are "doing" to improve your products and services.

We are just kicking off this new program so take a look at our newest members.
http://www.characterfirst.com/programs/members/

Character First! has changed!!!!

Stay connected on my blog. Over the next several weeks or maybe a few months I will be updating everyone on the "amazing" changes at Character First.

In the mean time, check out our website!
CharacterFirst.com

The Art of Building Relationships

When you ask people, what is the foundation of good relationships? I often hear, "trust." Trust is so important that Stephen M. R. Covey wrote a great book titled, The Speed of Trust."

I agree, trust is a huge part but there is something even more foundational. If you don't believe me, try removing this from any relationships in your life and see what happens.

What am I talking about? Communications!!!

If communication is important what should it look like? Better yet, what should it not be like?

Consistent, accurate, regular, open, are just a few key words.

When a military battle plan is drawn up the first objective is to knockout the enemies communications. More effective than precise reconnaissance or carpet bombing, if communication lines are cut, everything quickly falls apart.

Come back for more suggestions on the power of communications.