13 Characteristics To Look For When Hiring Leaders

Every organization I know of wants to hire leaders.  I mean, can you imagine a supervisor saying, “We don’t want any leaders around here.”  Of course not!  There is always room for more leaders.  But do you know what you should be looking for?
Chipotle restaurants are growing and they are looking for leaders, lots of leaders.  On September 9th, the popular Mexican chain is hosting a national career day.  Each restaurant will conduct approximately 60 interviews from 8:00 AM until 11:00 AM prior to their opening.  The company plans to hire 4,000 new employees.
What is interesting are the types of employees Chipotle is looking for.  Company spoke mans Chris Arnold told USA Today, “When we hire crew, we look to identify individuals that we think have the motivation and the capability to move into management or leadership positions.”
Leadership is part of the Chipotle culture.  Last year, they promoted over 10,000 people into management roles.  With the culture they have created, Chipotle has become very clear on the type of individuals they wish to have join their team.  They are looking for attitude and what they refer to as Chipotle’s “13 Characteristics.”
Those 13 Characteristics are the following:

1. Being Conscientious
2. Respectful
3. Hospitable
4. High Energy
5. Infectiously Enthusiastic
6. Happy
7. Presentable
8. Smart
9. Polite
10. Motivated
11. Ambitious
12. Curious
13. Honest

What is striking is what is not listed.  Notice they are not initially looking for skills, experience and competencies.  Those can be trained and acquired over time.  Chipotle is looking for core behaviors learned during a person’s youth.  They are looking for an approach to life.
If your church, business, or non-profit is looking for leaders and need to start putting together a list of characteristics of what you are looking for, Chipotle gives you a good template to utilize.

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