This past weekend, I had an engaging conversation about the younger generation with one of my best friends who serves as an HR Manager for a major Fortune 500 company in Denver, Colorado. Are discussion began with leadership in relevance to Generation Y and quickly moved into an in-depth conversation about recruiting the Top 10% talent in the college market.

Although this topic of discussion has not been of much interest to me as a leadership speaker who focuses mainly on issues that revolve around leadership, I was curious to hear how my friend defined the Top 10% because I personally did not believe the Top 10% should just be based on attending the best college and achieving the best grades in your class. Surprisingly to me, my friend felt the same way as me about the Top 10% and explained to me how being in the Top 10% from HR standpoint dealt with so many other factors beyond the college you attend and the grades you achieve in your class. He also agreed with me that everyone has the ability to be in the Top 10% if they are able to receive the proper training in their area of expertise.

As many individuals graduate college, aspire to move up within their company, and be the best they can be within their area of expertise, I wanted to share with you twelve key things that my friend and I believe people must possess in order to be considered the Top 10% in their area of expertise.

Strong Skill Set

If you are going to be considered Top 10% talent in your area of expertise, you must possess a strong talent and skill set for your specific professional arena. This can only happen for people who know what their skill set and work continuously to be the best they can be with their skill set.

Positive Attitude

If you are going to be considered Top 10% talent in your area of expertise, you must possess a positive attitude on the job, which means that you focus on the positive instead of the negative and possess an attitude that impacts others around you!

Great Character

If you are going to be considered Top 10% talent in your area of expertise, you must be someone that possesses great character. Great character means that you are someone others can trust, you are someone that has integrity, you are someone that fair and just, and you are someone that does what’s required of you in your area of expertise.

Passion

If you are going to be considered Top 10% talent in your area of expertise, you must be someone that possesses passion for your work. This ultimately means that you are someone who cares about your job, loves your job, is willing to go the extra-mile to be the best at your work, and refuses to let anyone or anything stop you from achieving great success in your area of expertise.

Team Player

If you are going to be considered Top 10% talent in your area of expertise, you must be someone that is an exceptional team player. Being an exceptional team player means that you are someone who works well with others, understands how to work effectively in a team setting, gets along with others on the job, and is willing to sacrifice for the betterment of the entire team.

Strong Leadership Skills

If you are going to be considered Top 10% talent in your area of expertise, you must be someone that has strong leadership skills. As a leadership speaker, there are many different aspects of becoming a strong leader, but one key thing to understand is that great leaders are not born, they are developed, which means at some point you will have to work on your leadership skills in order to be a great leader. This process can occur in college or in your area of expertise.

Teachable

If you are going to be considered Top 10% talent in your area of expertise, you must be someone that is teachable. This ultimately means that you are a person on the job that is willing to learn, is willing to hear positive and constructive criticism, knows how to listen, and does not believe that he/she know everything. Although this concept seems easy to do, many people fail within various organizations and companies because they are not teachable.

Professional Etiquette

If you are going to be considered Top 10% talent in your area of expertise, you must have professional etiquette, which is ultimately adhering to the company culture in which you work and being an example of the standards set by the company to others. For instance, as a business professional, if its required for you to wear a suit and tie, make sure you wear a suit and tie to the job. Also, if its good business within your company to respond to emails within 48 hours, make sure you are someone that responds in 48 hours. Basically, professional etiquette is doing what is professionally required in your area of expertise to the highest level.

Problem-Solver

If you are going to be considered Top 10% talent in your area of expertise, you must be a problem solver which is someone who is not only effective at solving problems on their own or in groups, but its someone that focuses on solutions to problems rather than the problem itself.

Strong Work Ethic

If you are going to be considered Top 10% talent in your area of expertise, you must have a strong work ethic, which consists of someone who works hard at their job and works at being better at what they do on a consistent basis. Since it’s basketball season, the greatest example of this concept is Kobe Bryant because he is not only one of the best players in the NBA, but he is also one of the hardest workers in the NBA as well.

Strong Decision Making Skills

If you are going to be considered Top 10% talent in your area of expertise, you must have a strong decision making skills, which consists of someone who is extremely effective at making good choices and making the right decisions in tough moments. For instance, if your on the job and your friend is not doing his job effectively, are you willing to make the tough decision to replace him with someone else for the betterment of the team or will that be something to hard for you to do? This is just one of the many tough decisions that talented people must make within their company or organization.

Great Communication Skills

If you are going to be considered Top 10% talent in your area of expertise, you must have a strong communications skills, which consists of being able to communicate effectively to the members of your team, being able to effectively communicate to people of different backgrounds than yours, and being able to effectively communicate in front of an audience as a public speaker. Although some areas of expertise require less communication than others, at the end of the day, the talented 10% are able to communicate their message effectively to others in a group setting or one on one conversation.

Like most people, I believe that are several others key factors as well, but applying these simple twelve basic things effectively in your area of expertise can really position you as a great candidate or leader within any company or organization!