A

June    27th

ADVERSITY   REVEALS

“How    does    it  help,   my  husband,    to  make    misfortune  heavier by  complaining about   it? This    is

more    fit for a   king—to seize   your    adversities head    on. The more    precarious  his situation,  the

more    imminent    his fall    from    power,  the more    firmly  he  should  be  resolved    to  stand   and fight.  It

isn’t   manly   to  retreat from    fortune.”

—SENECA,    OEDIPUS,     80

s the CEO of Charles Schwab, Walt Bettinger hires hundreds of people each year and interviews
hundreds more. Over his lifetime, we can safely assume he’s had his share of hits, misses, and
surprises when it comes to bringing people on board. But consider one technique he’s used as he’s gotten
older: he takes a candidate to breakfast and asks the restaurant’s manager to purposely mess up the
candidate’s breakfast order.
He’s testing to see how they react. Do they get upset? Do they act rudely? Do they let this little event
spoil the meeting? Do they handle the inconvenience with grace and kindness?
How you handle even minor adversity might seem like nothing, but, in fact, it reveals everything.