What’s more important, talent or hard work?

By Jayson Krause, Managing Director of Level 52 & Award-Winning Author of The Science Behind Success

Many companies seek to attract and retain top talent.  However, is talent more important than hard work?

This was a conversation with a group of about a dozen youth football players between the ages of ten and twelve. They were asked what they’d rather have in a teammate, someone who was really talented, or someone who worked really hard? The unanimous response from the group was that they’d rather have a teammate who worked hard. Anna Chui, Editor-in-Chief & Content Strategist of Lifehack, states her case as to why hard work trumps talent, but perhaps it’s not a this or that discussion. One ten-year-old kid raised his hand and asked, “why isn’t hard work considered a talent?” Great question. Because natural talent is easier to see. We tend to value what we can see and devalue what happens behind the curtains.

So what’s more important? The simple answer is… it depends. A lack of talent can certainly hurt you, but a lack of hard work will sink you. I expand on this more in the podcast companion here.