The Character Test Every Hire Must Pass

Over the years, I’ve hired a lot of people. Most worked out. A few didn’t. And a handful caused real damage.

I had one employee I poured my heart into who later sued me for wrongful termination. Another who did unbelievably stupid, sexually inappropriate things inside one of my clinics. And others who systematically tried to steal.\

Looking back, here’s the uncomfortable truth

In those cases, my reason overruled my conscience.

I looked at skills. Experience. Résumés. Credentials. I told myself, “Objectively, this person makes sense.”

What I didn’t slow down to ask was: What kind of person is this?

Would I trust this person to care for my parents if they were vulnerable? Would I feel okay with them babysitting my kids? Would I trust them when no one is watching?

That might sound extreme. But here’s what I’ve learned the hard way.

Most massive business headaches aren’t caused by people who are bad at their jobs.They’re caused by people who are bad people.

As I’ve gotten older, I’ve realized this: You don’t just have to pass the skill test. You don’t just have to pass the attitude test.You have to pass the character test.

That doesn’t mean perfection. Nobody is hiring Jesus. He doesn’t exist as an employee. But does this person have a fundamentally sound moral compass?

You see this everywhere. In sports. In business. There are insanely talented people who never reach their potential because the off-field problems outweigh the on-field production. At some point, the juice just isn’t worth the squeeze. One clear example is Antonio Brown: elite talent, endless issues…teams eventually decide they’re better off without him.

This is something I’m still learning. But I know this much: if you take character more seriously on the front end, you save yourself an enormous amount of pain on the back end.

Reason matters. But reason without conscience will cost you.