Keith Osik

Being a Major League Baseball scout the past 35 years, I’ve narrowed down three important characteristics when considering a prospect to draft. Not perfection!..but consistency. 1) Character: Determines who you are and how people trust you when nobody is watching. 2) Chemistry: Determines if you’re a great teammate, and if people want to build with you. Do you add value to the locker room. Do I win with the “nine best” players or the “best nine” players? 3) Competency: Determines whether you have the talent and skill level to deliver the results to win a championship. You can fake one for a while. You cannot fake all three for long. • Character — Who You Are Your character is your real reputation. It’s who you are at the core. Not your image. Not your branding. Your habits under pressure. Talent can open a door. Character keeps you in the room. Weak character destroys strong opportunities. Discipline matters more than motivation because motivation changes daily. Integrity is expensive — that’s why so few people have it. Your private decisions eventually become your public reality. The fastest way to lose respect is to compromise your values for short-term gain or comfort. Successful people are trusted because they are consistent, not because they are perfect. Don’t miss that! If your words and actions don’t match, your future will eventually collapse. • Chemistry — Are You a Good Teammate? Nobody becomes great alone. Your ability to work with people multiplies opportunities. Poor chemistry destroys a locker room culture. People don’t just hire skill — they hire energy and coach-ability. A toxic player eventually becomes a liability. Humility makes collaboration possible. Ego kills more careers than lack of talent. The people who rise fastest are usually the ones others trust in hard moments. Great teammates make everyone around them better. They are winners! Listening is more powerful than constantly proving you’re smart. If people feel smaller after talking to you, you will lose immediate influence. • Competency — Are You Actually Skilled? Confidence without competence is noise. Results matter. Work ethic without skill eventually hits a ceiling. Being busy is not the same as being valuable. Excuses never outperform preparation. Average skills with consistency beats raw talent with laziness. Organizations respect execution. The higher you rise, the more competence becomes non-negotiable. At the end of the day, competence matters. Summation: Your future is connected to the value you consistently create. Character earns trust. Chemistry builds relationships. Competency creates results. When all three align: People respect you. People enjoy working with you. People can depend on you. That combination is rare — and rare people become unforgettable.