Colin Powell on Recruiting

Just stumpled over some comments from Colin Powell on Recruiting. When I first listened to him at WCIT 2006, I decided that this man is worth to really listen, too. You should have seen him speaking to an international public, full of chinese, muslim, french and everybody else who wouldn't be imagined to be a fan of a former general and member of the Bush administration... you should have seen the enduring standing ovations after his 1 hour speech... However, this is some important words for everyone who has to hire:

"Powell's Rules for Picking People:”
Look for intelligence and judgment, and most critically,
a capacity to anticipate, to see around corners. Also
look for loyalty, integrity, a high energy drive, a balanced
ego, and the drive to get things done.

How often do our recruitment and hiring processes tap into these attributes? More often than not, we ignore them in favor of length of resume, degrees and prior titles. A string of job descriptions a recruit held yesterday seem to be more important than who one is today, what they can contribute tomorrow, or how well their values mesh with those of the organization. You can train a bright, willing novice in the fundamentals of your business fairly readily, but it's a lot harder to train someone to have integrity, judgment, energy, balance, and the drive to get things done. Good leaders stack the deck in their favor right in the recruitment phase.

Right now, I just wonder - and how do I figure this out. Perhaps you guys can help me... What questions to ask? How do you test judgment or integrity? Especially the balanced ego...this is something...how do you know after perhaps a few interviews?