The Situation:

The candidates were very different. One was the textbook choice—great pedigree, including top schools and a nice progression of assignments for name-brand firms.

The other individual didn’t match up well on paper.

The assignments for the other candidate were less glamorous, and there were more of them, including a failed start-up. The schools were not household names. And there was a long phase filled in with work that screamed under-employed.

During the interviews, the first candidate wowed people with success after success. The polish and charisma were contagious, and to the team, this seemed like an easy call.

It wasn’t.

If you stopped and listened to the two candidates, you heard one who could do no wrong in great environments and the other who had learned to survive and grow stronger in some harsh settings.

The latter candidate owned her failures and attributed her victories to others. And she exuded a sense of self-confidence that left you believing she could navigate any obstacle in her way.

This candidate oozed resilience and courage.

Which Candidate Would You Hire? 

There’s a safe choice. No one would ever fault you for hiring the first candidate.

I hired the candidate who learned to survive and grow stronger in tough situations.

No matter what life had thrown at her, including that long stint of under-employment while she cared for a loved one battling illness, she persevered, bounced back, and reinvented herself.

Resilience and Courage:

Resilience, according to one dictionary definition, is the capacity to absorb a shock or a punch and return quickly to original form.

Life and business are filled with shocks and punches. We’ve lived this story for the past few years. And the shocks and punches keep coming, just in different forms and from unexpected places.

We can either let the negatives derail and define us, or we can emerge bruised and emboldened, a bit smarter and a bit more confident to face the next shot.

Beware Conventional Wisdom

Safe choices in talent and strategy are the ingredients of mediocrity. You shouldn’t make stupid choices, but you don’t find greatness without taking chances.

The conventional wisdom usually says, stay safe.

They laughed at my suggestion for a big assignment. Conventional wisdom told me to back off and go with a different choice.

The board was initially shocked that we wanted to go all-in on a major new investment and strategy in the face of an economic downturn. “We need to conserve cash,” interjected one member. “This is crazy,” offered another.

We invested and won the market.

Screw conventional wisdom when you believe in someone or something.

It’s important to rebel against convention when the stakes are high.

If You’re Not Being Tested, You’re Not Pushing Yourself Hard Enough

The resistance to my hiring decision tested my courage and resilience. Truthfully, I didn’t care about making the unpopular call if I believed in the individual. I was prepared to deal with the consequences if the outcome was poor.

Fortunately, things worked. While she was part of our team, she was a difference-maker every single day. She taught us how to shake off momentary stumbles and defeats and come back smarter and stronger. And she showed everyone to focus more on the depth and resilience of the person and not the outward labeling of pedigree or the power of charisma.

She’s building a great new business in yet another market. This time around, she has a lot of people cheering for her, including those naysayers from a few years ago.

The Bottom Line for Now:

The next time you come face-to-face with someone offering different ideas or coming from a world you don’t know or understand, slow down and listen. And then listen harder. Don’t let the pressure to conform keep you from making the right decision. Kick the conventional wisdom in the teeth. After all, resilience and courage are the foundation of great leadership.

Art's Signature