Fierce Practice #2: From Hiring for Smarts to Hiring for Smart + Heart.

Fierce Practice #2: From Hiring for Smarts to Hiring for Smart + Heart.

A great Albert Einstein quote begins and frames this chapter: “We should take care not to make the intellect our god; it has, of course powerful muscles, but no personality. It cannot lead; it can only serve.” I feel that people are tribal animals. As such, we want to spend our days, weeks, months, and years working with not only smart people but also people we can have a relationship with. Scott calls that Smart + Heart—and I love it because it’s easy to remember, if not hard as hell to do. For many years, we have revered smart people; however, smart without heart is far less admirable or functional. There’s plenty of research around this one. Nobel Prize winner Daniel Kahneman’s studies have proved that we behave first emotionally and then rationally. Daniel Goleman’s work, as well as research by the folks from Gallup, have demonstrated how vital a good “heart” is for leaders. Competence is great but as Teddy Roosevelt said “Nobody cares what you know, until they know that you care.”