Which is more important to success, attitude or aptitude?
My experience suggests that attitude trumps everything else.
When I was a hiring manager, I often said that I hire for attitude and aptitude, then train for everything else. My logic was that hard skills can be trained, but attitude is much more difficult to influence, and aptitude simply “is”.
In terms of what makes work fun, attitude is everything. It is your attitude that allows you to:
- pick yourself up when you fail.
- drive yourself to develop new skills.
- push through difficulties to pursue excellence.
- deal with the inevitable disappointments along the way.
Based on stories of those who have overcome amazing odds to pursue dreams and passions after being told, “You’ll never be able to do that.” I have come to believe that even aptitude can be developed with the right attitude.
What do you think?