I recently wrote in HR Magazine how recruiting staff with ‘mental toughness’ is a top priority with another challenging 12 months ahead – and one in every 160 companies currently going into liquidation.

Described by Wikipedia as ‘A collection of attributes that allow a person to persevere through difficult circumstances and emerge without losing confidence.’ – most of us are familiar with the term via the world of sport.

The ability to deal constantly with uncertainty (which is what we face in today’s extraordinary business world) – is key to being mentally tough.

Simon Hartley from Be World Class says the most successful people are those who can deal with uncertainty, challenges and set-backs. For these people uncertainty is normal, exciting – and provides opportunities.

Simon says: “Unlike the majority of us, the very best in the world deliberately seek out uncertainty. They push themselves way beyond their comfort zone. They are always seeking to explore new territory, try new things and go beyond that which has been done before. As such, they are continually surrounded by uncertainty.”

As company owners and bosses it’s highly unlikely that we will find world class people to employ on our doorstep as they’ll be taking on the world elsewhere. However, we can select those with resilience and broad shoulders to deflect the turbulence which lies ahead.   

When recruiting for mental toughness, dig deep to find people who: 

• Are confident
• Have self belief
• Are courageous
• Are creative
• Are resilient
• Embrace challenges
• Push themselves out of their comfort zone
• Motivate and keep their teams on track 

In this climate costly recruitment mistakes are more prohibitive than ever so unearthing the traits of mental toughness during the recruitment process is therefore critical.

To find out more how I can help you to recruit the top talent and grow your business contact me on richard.bosworth@whatifspecialist.com, go to@richardwhatif on Twitter Link, Richard Bosworth on LinkedIn or www.whatifforums.com