In a world of talented people without any passion and a world of passionate people without any talent, which would you rather?
When hiring new staff would you rather hire based on talent or passion? A top ten question a recruiter recently told us was their go-to in sorting out good managers from great managers.
Wikipedia defines talent as ‘a group of aptitudes useful for some activities’. Key word there is some. Hiring based on talent, does not mean you are hiring someone who is talented in every area of your business, nor does that mean said talent is readily used on a daily basis or if the drive behind the talent is for a pay cheque at the end of the week or a love for the talent.
Passion, however is defined as ‘an intense desire or enthusiasm for something’. Imagine having an intense enthusiasm for something, that desire is your driving force, you would not stop at anything to reach that goal, its exactly that which makes you want to become talented in that position.
Take this scenario for example;
You have two candidates in front of you both applying for the role of a beauty therapist. One has been massaging her entire life and performs a great massage but she mentions she must start work at nine am and finish at exactly three pm every day and must have clean and retail timing between every appointment. During the interview she is double checking pay rates, incentives and bonuses she will get for retailing products.
The other candidate is straight out of beauty school and has performed massages on her class mates and in student clinic. Busting out of her seat she is asking questions about you, the business, the team and further study she can do before she potentially gets the job.
Candidate one is a great talent, but candidate two has great passion. See the difference?
Talent can be taught, bought and sought, however passion, passion comes from within.
It’s your burning desire to be ignited by that very think that makes you wake up and go to work every single morning.
