This might surprise you. Your kindergarten teacher may have had a lot to do with your earning capacity as an adult.
Adam Grant’s new book Hidden Potential offers some startling results.
In the late 1980s, the state of Tennessee completed a study of 79 schools and over 11,000 students to discover whether smaller class sizes provided better learning.
An economist, Raj Chetty, recognized that since both the students and teachers were randomly assigned to classrooms, he could use the data to analyze whether other features of classrooms made a difference. (Chetty is the winner of the MacArthur genius grant and one of the world’s most influential economists.)
If you were one of those cynical students who felt math and reading skills aren’t important, this study provides ammunition for your argument.
Watch Grant share some of the insights here on the Today show:
Fourth and 8th grade students were rated by their teachers for some often-overlooked qualities. The four Chetty isolated:
Chetty discovered, that when students were taught by more experienced kindergarten teachers, their fourth-grade teachers rated them higher on all four of these attributes. So did their eighth-grade teachers.
The capacities to be proactive, prosocial, disciplined, and determined stayed with students longer—and ultimately proved more powerful—than early math and reading skills.
When Chetty and his colleagues predicted adult income from fourth-grade scores, the ratings on these behaviors mattered 2.4 times as much as math and reading performance on standardized tests.
Character is more than just having principles. It’s a learned capacity to live by your principles.
The video on Hidden Potential shares the 1991 story of the Raging Rooks, a Harlem high school, that started chess and in just two years won the United States Championship title, with coach Maurice Ashley (who became the first Black Chess Grand Master), using unconventional means to inspire and motivate young players to not only be self-motivated, but work as a team to win.
This rare quality of character is described best by student Francis Idehen regarding Coach Ashley’s style, “He was always conveying life lessons without being heavy-handed. It was less about executing a chess plan than understanding of self and mastery of self. That was pivotal in my life.”
Character skills do more than help you perform at your peak—they propel you to higher peaks.
Nobel laureate economist James Heckman concluded in a review of the research, that character skills “predict and produce success in life.”
Character, however, doesn’t grow in a vacuum. You need the opportunity and motivation to nurture it.
Grant’s book reveals the truth and importance of character. It’s something difficult to measure, yet I believe a critical element in hiring and acquiring team players.
The prologue to Grant’s Hidden Potential will have you hooked to discover more. Watch this 8-minute video.
Character
One of the most powerful messages I received when starting my sales career in broadcasting was this definition of character from Cavett Robert,
“Character is the willingness to carry out a good resolution long after the mood in which it was made has left you.”
I can’t tell you how many times this definition got me out of bed in the morning! It prompted me to make more calls, work harder, and be persistent.
Grant provides insights into how to build and develop character. We’ll explore this next blog.
To create an environment where everyone is inspired to give their best, contact Positioning Systems to schedule a free exploratory meeting.
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