There are many qualities required to be a successful professional person and to make your way in a challenging and ever changing business environment.
Recruiting trainees in one of the law firms I worked in we took the time to identify some of these attributes. A good mind and education were almost a given. We then looked for articulate but well rounded individuals who were intellectually able but also emotionally stable.
We also wanted people who would fit in; if in doubt our ultimate test (in the days before open plan offices - remember those?) was "could you share a room with the person concerned for six months". This was amazingly effective in helping us make our minds up.
However over recent years I have come to consider that there is another attribute which is absolutely necessary and a huge asset, and is not often recognised as such.
This is resilience, the ability to encounter a set back and not only to bounce back but even to learn from the situation and turn it into a positive. Not everything in professional life is plain sailing and it is inevitable there will be highs and lows.
As it says above the entrance to Wimbledon's Centre Court in Rudyard Kipling's immortal words "If you can meet with triumph and disaster, and treat those two imposters just the same."
Recruiting trainees in one of the law firms I worked in we took the time to identify some of these attributes. A good mind and education were almost a given. We then looked for articulate but well rounded individuals who were intellectually able but also emotionally stable.
We also wanted people who would fit in; if in doubt our ultimate test (in the days before open plan offices - remember those?) was "could you share a room with the person concerned for six months". This was amazingly effective in helping us make our minds up.
However over recent years I have come to consider that there is another attribute which is absolutely necessary and a huge asset, and is not often recognised as such.
This is resilience, the ability to encounter a set back and not only to bounce back but even to learn from the situation and turn it into a positive. Not everything in professional life is plain sailing and it is inevitable there will be highs and lows.
As it says above the entrance to Wimbledon's Centre Court in Rudyard Kipling's immortal words "If you can meet with triumph and disaster, and treat those two imposters just the same."
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