What qualifies someone to be the “MVP” of a sports team? Why are they chosen? What makes them undeniably the best of the best?

It’s an easy assumption the MVP is the most talented person on the team or the coach’s favorite. This assumption is wrong. An MVP is bigger and more than someone who can dunk, score a 50-yard touchdown, run a 4-minute mile, or hit 3 homeruns in a game. We often overlook what MVP stands for when thinking about the MVP in work place, as well: Most Valuable Player. An MVP is the person who has an undeniable work ethic, a leader mindset, positive energy, and the desire to continually better themselves and those around them every single day. These are the people who see the value in the team as a whole and are dedicated to building everybody up, understanding one person cannot carry the entire team. They are hungry, determined, passionate. They are invaluable and irreplaceable.

The people who are often indispensable and priceless are those who go an extra mile. They are willing to stay late to help a struggling team member improve because they understand the value of teamwork; to make an extra 50 calls a day to write one more deal because they know one more a day adds up overtime; to push those around them to be better while bringing positive energy because they recognize the potential in others and, more importantly, what others to see the potential in themselves. These are the folks who get recognized as the MVP.

Talent is everywhere; grit, tenacity, and hunger are rare. You can teach someone to do a job but you can’t make people care, put in effort, or want to be great. That drive is inert and comes from within them. They must have the match for you to spark.

David’s tenth Sweet 16 Compass to Success item: “Very Valuable People are the Ones You Can’t Quantify.” You become someone other than “just another employee” when you go above and beyond and do whatever it takes to be successful. And by successful, we don’t mean just your own personal success but also ensuring those around you are successful. You push. You motivate. You help. You develop.

You don’t just aim for your goal, you surpass it. And then you’re hungry for even more. That is where you become irreplaceable and immeasurable, when you become the MVP.

If you believe you’re a force to be reckoned with, we want your resume and we want you on our team. You don’t need to be the most talented to be the most valuable but you do need to be the hungriest. “Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard.” So, are you going to show up hungry and have a work ethic that’s unmatched? Or are you going to fall back on talent alone and coast? Your choice.