The hidden base

You’re interviewing people for your new sales team, who would you rather hire?

Group A: Scores high on an aptitude test, but has average levels of optimism

Group B: High levels of optimism, but scores average on an aptitude test

Turns out someone ran this study and if you picked B, your team performed better. Not just slightly, but significantly better.

“The optimistic group outsold their more pessimistic counterparts by 19% in year one and 57% in year two.”

Eric Barker, BUTWT

While intelligence and skill are important, we are discovering that there’s this hidden section to the chart being less discussed and it’s at the base.

75% of long term job success is predicted by three factors:

  • Social Connection – the depth and breadth in your social relationships
  • Optimism – the belief that your behavior matters in the midst of challenge
  • Perception – the way that you perceive stress

Most people have the equation flipped (they focus on IQ), but this month we’ll be diving deeper into the base.

Buckle up because May is all about Social Connections; how to build them and why they matter.