Four Qualities of People Who Change the World
Jobs are boring dead things that suck the life out of you, but a person with a mission has found a new lens for life.
The greater the thing you live for the richer life becomes.
Noble mission always answers one simple question. How can I serve?
The most beautiful people are on a mission to serve.
Mission:
Claudio Fernández-Aráoz, one of the world’s top executive search consultants, has a mission not a job. I didn’t ask Claudio for his mission, but within the first three minutes of our conversation, he said,
I really believe the world would be a better place if the right people were at the top, and if we could become better at identifying our high potentials, and if we could become much better at motivating and developing them.
Claudio’s book “It’s Not the How or the What but the Who: Succeed by Surrounding Yourself with the Best,” lists four qualities of high potentials – people who consistently create value.
The top four:
#1. Curiosity – persistent learning. What are you learning? What are you reading? How do you process feedback?
Curiosity is probably the most important one of the four. Claudio Fernández-Aráoz
#2. Insight – the ability to connect the dots. Can you determine what really matters and put together a vision that makes sense, one that others can follow? Can you keep your feet on the ground and see possibilities at the same time?
#3. Engagement – the ability to convince and persuade others about the vision. Can you touch minds and hearts? Are you influencing without authority?
You can have all the insight in the world but if you are not able to persuade others you are as good as dead. Claudio Fernández-Aráoz
#4. Determination – the ability to continue striving toward high and challenging objectives regardless of the circumstances.
What qualities do you look for in top talent?
______________
Bonus material:
Claudio on curiosity and how Jack Welch frustrated dinner guests (1:25):
Claudio on insight (1:57):
Claudio on engagement (3:38):
Book:
I highly recommend Claudio’s book, It’s Not the How or the What but the Who: Succeed by Surrounding Yourself with the Best.” It’s a great read that will change the way you identify and develop top talent. Must reading for every leader!
Discount:
Claudio is speaking at the World Business Forum Oct 7-8, 2014. Use discount code LDRFREAK to save $200 on registration.
Well done for being selected as a featured blogger at the WBF, Dan! Very good article today. No points for guessing what I look for in my group… my guys help us succeed first and foremost because they are living examples of our slogan. They “Always Care”! 🙂
Thanks Paul. I appreciate the good word and your slogan, which is obviously more than a slogan. Thanks for caring.
the new audio tracks are nice touches.
Thanks Geoffrey. One of the great joys of blogging is having these conversations. Glad you enjoyed listening in.
Dan, “We build the best better” was an old slogan I remember from my younger years, still works in today’s world too!
Thanks Tim. The pursuit of excellence is a must! Cheers
Terrific post today, Dan. The four qualities are dead on and very powerful. Engagement has always been my Achilles heel, though. That is a difficult one to self-teach.
Well done Dan. I really appreciate the four insights. Like Jim Collins said, it’s more important to identify the who – finding the right person in the right bus and the right seat.
Paul // Leadership Blogger, http://www.paulsohn.org
Nice post! A mission gives direction. A job is only a task.
The quote, “Can you keep your feet on the ground and see possibilities at the same time?”, struck me. We so often hear comments that imply we need to do one or the other. Comments like, “let go and think outside the box” seem to dictate that we make a choice. I much prefer the quote which encourages me to do both 🙂
Also, “The most beautiful people are on a mission to serve.” is today’s mantra. Thank you.
I want people who care. I believe Curiosity, Insight, Engagement and Determination are some of the behaviors associated with caring. The other great thing is that people can tell when you actually care. Talk about building relationships.
But perhaps the coup de grace of caring person is the ability to make others care as well.
I wrote about that with an article called “What if I Didn’t Care?” You might enjoy.
http://intothechange.net/2014/07/17/what-if-i-didnt-care/
Thanks for another great post. Cheers.
A good leader is also a good listener. If you have a member in your team, if he suggest something, you still have to listen, if you happen to be a leader in your team. In doing so, you will gain more respect and sometimes discover new idea base in your ongoing project. In my trade, we always teach newbies or apprentice for future leaders.
wealthyaffiliateonline.com
I look for folks that can show aptitude in multiple areas. They are able to dive technically deep into an area they have experience/passion, discuss emotional issues with some level of comfort, can ask good questions themselves, can easily point to others that have helped them in their journey of self improvement, and are less wordy than I am.
Great post, Dan. Good guidelines for leadership recruitment. I’d add Character to the list-with respect to integrity, optimism and the kind of grounded steadfastness to lead even when the way forward is not readily apparent and in the face of unexpected internal or external change.
Hi Dan, great post as usual.
Although the quote you used for Claudio left me bemused. Too generic and, well, fluffy. Who are the best people?, why pick them?, how to identify? etc. All details for sure … But aren’t these the things that your followers want to know? I suspect, at times, the world is full of generic nice quotes when some down and dirty detail is what people really want.
A constant theme over many years has been to get the right people on the bus and the wrong people off, and to invest in the best p, etc. Jim c and others deserve much kudos for much of this. To me Claudio says the same thing.
Or maybe I missed something.
Rob
Thanks Rob. Claudio is building on the idea of getting the right people on the bus that Jim Collins propogated and got from Peter Drucker. We often rediscover and expand ideas that Drucker gave us.
Best I can suggest on getting deeper is grab Claudio’s book. I totally loved it. Glad you stopped in today. Best for the journey.
WOW !!!! Wonderful insight. vrajesh kumar
Awesome post! Especially the opening line..”…a person with a mission has found a new lens for life.” Absolute truth! The word of God says that we parish for lack of knowledge and vision. (Proverbs 28:18 & Hosea 4:6 AMP) A person with a purpose strives to “live” out there purpose by mission (end result) & vision (what they do in the middle or on the way to the end result.) Great post! A reminder to always live on purpose or your not living at all.
Thanks for this post! I always look forward to yours, but this one was great, especially the reasons. Thanks for sharing Claudio’s book and thanks for sharing this.
When you serve your people, and love what you do, you fully live your life! “Successful leaders build environments where people love working together.” I love this quote of yours and it’s so true! When you give to others, you give your life a true rich meaning.