Character & Competence!

So many organizations focus on training, skills, certifications, degrees, experience, knowledge, and abilities when hiring, placement, and promotion. Why is it when you have to correct or even terminate someone it is almost always character related?

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The Character Solution

There is a way to lead your team to greatness. There is hope, and there can be a light at the end of the tunnel that isn't a train. The problems we face are frequently personal character issues that cannot be solved with programs, techniques, or more hours at the office. Creating a culture of character within our organization is the solution to many of these challenges. Fortunately, there is a way to make this transformation that has been tried and proven in a myriad of arenas. (from "Making Character First" page 2)

Why write a book?

Tom Hill began his business career in 1971 at Kimray, Inc., a prominent manufacturer of oil and gas equipment and controls. He served as an engineer, Executive President, President, and is currently Chairman of the Board. He founded Character First in 1992 to help Kimray employees be successful. Since then, Character First has spread to businesses and other organizations in over 34 countries. Tom is a regularly invited speaker on character and ethics in business. Learn more at www.makingcharacterfirst.com

The book is here, "Making Character First"

BIG NEWS!!!!! Making Character First is here! Check out this link and come back soon for excerpts from the book.
http://www.characterfirst.com

Why do some many managers lead like a drill sergeant?

For three years I was a drill sergeant in the United States Air Force. I found it very easy to demand action and to enforce consequences if they failed to do so. What was hard was doing this while keeping their hearts. A great leader knows how to mold someone into a better person without crushing them.

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