If you have ever been involved in recruiting you have come across a person whose technical skills made you drool. On paper he/she looked amazing. Your mind began to wander; oh the amazing things your team could do with such a talent. You set up the first meeting with anticipation. You thought about all the great things you can say about your team to convince him/her to be part of your team. The day finally arrives and you meet in person. This person doesn’t just have great skills on paper he/she talks like an expert, it is all there. He/She is perfect for you! Sure there are little red flags. He seems a cocky; a tiny bit too self assured. She strikes you as selfish. The interview is much more about “what can you do for me” than “what I can do for you”.
In your head you start to justify. “Someone this talented should be confident…”
Timeout, before you go any farther down that path, there are a few things you need to think about that all too often get brushed aside in the awe of technical prowess:
- Very talented people tend to underestimate their teammates. Think about that a minute. I am not saying they recognize their teammate’s weakness and are willing to support them. I am saying they fail to recognize their teammate’s strengths and make use of them. No matter who you are, it is offensive and alienating to be underestimated.
- If someone isn’t perceived as ‘nice’ their teammates will avoid asking their advice. What good does it do you to have the smartest, most talented person in the world on your team if everyone goes to the not as smart, not as talented person to ask questions? All of those smarts and skill will go to waste as your team tries to work around a talented ‘meanie’.
- Your clients prefer interpersonal skills over technical skills. Technical skills are common place. Clients assume they can get competence pretty much anywhere. How you interact with your clients on a personal level is what will make or break you and what they will talk about with their friends. Great technical skills don’t make up for bad customer interactions.
Okay time-in – now what was it you were going to justify about your perfect on paper but not in person recruit? I am not saying you should never bring in exceptional talent based on a bad attitude. I am just saying, weigh ALL of the pros and cons. And while we’re talking about the importance of technical skills versus interpersonal skills, where are you spending most (if not all) of your training budget? Maybe you should reconsider that too.
Dr. Robyn Odegaard is the CEO/Owner of the speaking/consulting company Champion Performance Development, the founder of the Stop The Drama! Campaign and author of the book ‘Stop The Drama! The Ultimate Guide to Female Teams’. She specializes in showing individuals and teams how to be powerful and achieve the most from their potential. You can invite her to give one of her funny, influential, insightful presentations and inquire about her consulting services at www.ChampPerformance.com and order her book from www.StopTheDramaNow.com
Tags :Champion Performance Development, Doc Robyn, hiring, HR, interpersonal skills, interviewing, Robyn Odegaard, tech skills, technical skills, where to put your training budget
For a while I had this “genius in the basement” complex, thinking that I could just learn how to be an expert and not have to worry about navigating those pesky interpersonal relationships, which were difficult for me.
Now I realize that all I have to do is be myself, and listen so others can be themselves.
The expertise is what brings us together and what has us continuing to do business, but the humanity and ease which we bring to each other makes it fun.
A wise person once said that a master in the art of living does not distinguish between work and play…
Love the “genius in the basement”. Is that where companies keep the geniuses?
Your comment hints back to the points I made in the “Show You’re Human” post I made several months back (for those who want to read it you can find it here: http://champperformance.com/archives/1345). Thanks for sharing!
I recently ran into something like this, when after a meeting with the two founders of a startup, one of them phoned me privately to apologize for his partner’s anti-social behavior.
He wanted to hire my firm, and assured me that his partner’s behavioral “quirks” were being addressed, and would provide no impediment to our future relationship.
I had to laugh.
As a sales executive I’ve been subjected to some pretty brutal conduct by buyers, directors of procurement and senior operations executives – people who lived in the cricible every day and on occasion would drag me in there with them if they thought it would accomplish their objective.
I assured the client that I was not offended by his partner’s behavior but he was adamant that if his partner was going to take a public role in the company, he was going to have to clean up his act.
I would be hard pressed to pass on excellent talent just because they didn’t play well with others. The work force is full of broken, dysfunctional people, so, barring outright illegal conduct or physical abuse, I think the responsibility falls to the more emotionally evolved members of the team to keep in mind that it’s “not about them”, and keep their eyes on the ball.
Don – You make a great point. The conundrum of of tech skill vs interpersonal. As I tell my clients, lack of interpersonal skill doesn’t mean you can’t do business with them but it sure makes it a lot more challenging.
Sometimes the tech skill makes it worth the challenge. For me, those times are few and far between.
Thanks for your story. I loved it!