Easier To Hire For

Management consultant Marcus Buckingham has come up with a list of 34 strengths a leader should have. Buckingham makes the point that some skills are difficult to train for but easier to hire for. His list of strengths has little to do with specific work experience or job skill but a lot to do with the qualities it would take to work well in a specific culture or with a certain kind of customer. The 34 skills are as follows:

1. Achiever - - Driving relentlessly to get things done and to accomplish.
2. Activator - - Getting started quickly to take action on decisions.
3. Adaptability - - Flexing and responding to the demands of the moment.
4. Analytical - - Looking for patterns, questioning, objective, data-driven.
5. Arranger - - Jumping in to manage all the variables and find the best layout.
6. Belief - - Maintaining strong core values around family, spirituality, altruism.
7. Command - - Taking charge and getting others on board despite risks, differences.
8. Communication - - Bringing ideas to life through writing, speaking, focusing.
9. Competition - - Measuring performance by comparing and winning.
10. Connectedness - - Seeing how everything and everyone is connected, interdependent.
11. Context - - Looking to the past, the context, for answers about today.
12. Deliberative - - Being cautious, vigilant, aware of risks, and serious about handling risks.
13. Developer - - Seeing potential in others and enjoy helping them grow.
14. Discipline - - Liking routines and structures to maintain productivity.
15. Empathy - - Turning in to others' feelings and viewpoints.
16. Fairness - - Treating everyone equally and by consistent rules.
17. Focus - - Being goal-driven and tangent-avoidant (Great word!!).
18. Futuristic - - Imagining the future with hope and vision.
19. Harmony - - Looking for agreement and avoiding conflict.
20. Ideation - - Getting energized by ideas, connections, insights.
21. Inclusiveness - - Bringing others in and valuing commonality over differences.
22. Individualization - - Valuing what is unique and special about each person.
23. Input - - Acquiring and filing away ideas, things, relationships, images.
24. Intellection - - Liking to think, introspect, reflect in private.
25. Learner - - Loving the process of learning and always being engaged in it.
26. Maximizer - - Driving toward excellence and making something the best it can be.
27. Positivity - - Praising generously, seeing what is right, optimism.
28. Relater - - Delighting in close friends and deepening relationships.
29. Responsibility - - Conscientiously focusing on doing what you promise.
30. Restorative - - Liking to solve problems, facilitate healing, fix things.
31. Self-assurance - - Having deep confidence in your strengths, abilities, judgments.
32. Significance - - Desiring recognition, admiration as a credible professional.
33. Strategic - - Seeing the consequence and contingencies to chart a course.
34. WOO - - "Winning Others Over" through getting others to like you.