Most anyone that has seen me speak at a college or even interviewed with me has heard me utter: Anthem looks for aptitude and attitude over experience. The notion is that knowledge and skill-sets can be learned and developed, but the right attitude is the differentiator and passion is innate.
There are countless reasons to seek out the right attitude. Experience can be instrumental, but it can also bring little value, or even worse, it can teach bad habits. For the purpose of this blog, my focus is on how aptitude nourishes culture and enables empowerment of people. Great culture feeds into productivity and the byproduct of both is profitability.
I’m obsessed with developing our people, but passion isn’t taught. Yet it can be nurtured, encouraged and given a platform to flourish. When we marry it together with aptitude and impart the right skills – we end up with another all-star and further strengthening of Anthem’s unique culture. This not only helps our objectives, but it keeps things fun and entertaining for us all.
Our people take ownership in all that they do. They are driven to further our shared goals. There is a fixation from the team itself on our culture too. That turns a team into a family quickly. There is no “living for the weekends” at Anthem. We are passionate about our endeavors and believe that we’re making an impact.
Inspired leaders need inspired teams next to and behind them. Without building your team with the right type of people first, any company is far less likely to have great success.
By Chris Sinclair
Founder, The Anthem Group