A Test of Character

Today, on the flight from Indianapolis to Dallas / Ft. Worth, I sat by Gene Keady, who coached Purdue's basketball team for 25 years and was assistant coach to the 2000 Olympic team. As we chatted, I asked him what he looked for in prospects besides raw talent.

"Character," he said.

"Okay," I said, "but how do you measure that? How do you know if a high school kid has character?"

He chuckled. "I talked to the janitors."

I joined with him in the laugh. The invisible witness, the one who can tell you who the kid is when he doesn't think that he's having to impress an authority figure. Next time I go into a new company, doing my up front analysis, I know who I'm going to talk to.