Learners Wanted!

Google is one the most prized places to work.  People who have applied there report that there's a maze of interviews so rigorous you’d think they were designed to be impossibly tough.  In an article I read in the Houston Chronicle the director of personnel and hiring at the Internet giant of all giants says the overriding theme at Google is: "Perfectionists, overachievers and know-it-alls need not apply." So who are they looking for?  Learners!

The Google campus in California's Silicon Valley is a place where employees are encouraged to take risks, make mistakes, consider alternate theories, weigh new evidence, recalibrate their thinking and, along the way, learn, learn, learn.

Google places a high premium on learning ability and intellectual humility.  Laszlo Bock, who is known in the Google world as the "head of people operations”,  told The New York Times recently that you have to be willing to not dominate a project or run roughshod over a team.  Instead, you should learn from others, own up to your mistakes and lead by relinquishing rather than asserting power, he said. 

So what kind of traits would Google key in on as they look for learners?  Here is the list the syndicated columnist, Ruben Navarrette Jr. penned in his article, Identifying Keys for Mega-Success,  I enjoyed.

Hard work, good grades, fancy degrees and professional contacts don't hurt, but you need more if you're going to get where you want to go in the work world.  Such as:

The ability to listen.  With so many so eager to have our say, it's getting harder to find people who understand the value of keeping your mouth shut and your ears open.

Common sense.  Often in short supply in business and in politics, it’s more important and valuable than sheer intelligence and also has the added benefit of helping cut through clutter and noise.

Integrity.  If you have it, you’ll find that people are more willing to deal with you and better able to trust you than if you don't.

Social skills.  The world is full of smart and capable people, but many are introverts who don't have the ability to interact with fellow human beings.  These skills carry you far.

Perseverance.  If you accomplish everything you set out to do, you’re setting your goals too low.  Failure is a first-rate education, and being successful means not giving up.

I am always on the lookout for good reads and I thank Ruben Navarrette Jr. for providing me one!

What traits do you deliver on?  Would you be described as a learner?

Still learning,

Honey