I’ve asked the following question in many job interviews, “What qualities do you want to define you?” I have been surprised by the lack of specificity from the majority of those who’ve answered. I have heard “friendly,” “helpful,” “loyal,” and “trustworthy” an awful lot. I probably bristle at these four most popular answers, mostly because they represent one-third of the twelve Boy Scout principles that were drilled in my head at a young age. Of course, they’re truly great qualities, but they don’t tell me enough about the candidate’s idiosyncrasies.
If you aren’t clear on how you’d answer the question yourself, take the following test (sometimes, you come face-to-face with what’s meaningful based upon observing what’s meaningless).
I’ve created 18 “ful” or “less” words below, some which don’t appear in a dictionary. Which of these words most send shivers down your spine? That’s a good sign that you want to be the opposite. For me, it’s “relentful” and “graceless,” so my self-awareness antennae tells me that being “relentless” and “graceful” are important qualities for me. How about you? Circle those that give you a big reaction and then distill it down to your top two choices.
And, then, imagine what the U.S. would be like if we all did this test one weekend as a means of trying to create a “coarse correction.”
