HIRE SOMEONE WHO'S THE CEO OF THEIR OWN LIFE

When getting acquainted with top talent, my team and I have a few favorite skills we seek out. Abilities that are NOT on their resume, but DO enhance culture at the companies they join.

The first one: just plain LIFE SKILLS.

Does the candidate have a plan and strategy for their own life? 

It’s possilbe to Harvardize this topic, going deep down a rabbit hole of graphs and charts, but it can also be quite simple. In fact, simplifying conversations around vision, purpose, and “life strategy” is a skill in itself. 

When we interview someone, we want to understand: do they know the direction they want to go personally, how their profession matches that vision, and how they are tracking progress on both?

To give a sense of just how rare "life skills" are, I'll quote the Harvard Business Review:

“In surveying our… participants, we found that… only 21% had outlined what a great life means to them, 9% had identified their purpose, 12% had set a vision for their life, 17% had created concrete goals and milestones, and a paltry 3% had developed what could be called a life strategy.”

(Rainer Strack, Susanne Dyrchs, and Allison Bailey)

Leadership roles are overwhelming — conflicting interests and personalities, general ambiguity and sheer workload.

If you need a clear thinking leader who doesn’t get bogged down by these things, start by finding someone who’s the CEO of their own life.