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Tyler Perry reveals the personality trait that helped him build his massive media empire, and that he says all managers should look for when hiring new talent

Career experts have long touted the importance of "hunger" in any successful career plan.
The writer-director-actor Tyler Perry told Linkedln's CEO how you could be hired for his production company. Associated Press

The writer-director-actor Tyler Perry told Linkedln's CEO how you could be hired for his production company. Associated Press

The super multi-hyphenate Tyler Perry has worked hard to build a successful entertainment empire out of sheer talent — but as he likes to say it, talent isn't necessarily what he's looking for when hiring new employees.

In a recent episode of LinkedIn's video series "This Is Working," Perry opened up about what it's been like to star in what he called a "$2 billion franchise." During the wide-ranging chat, Perry said he valued employees who were "hungry" over those who were talented because they had the drive to get the job done.

"There've been many times that people will come in and audition, and they weren't the best talent. But they had a hunger and a zeal to get it right, to do it," Perry said. "That hunger, what I found nine times out of 10, that hunger is enough to catapult them to greatness in what they're doing."

He said candidates with this mindset would find success at Tyler Perry Studios, his namesake company and the first major film studio owned by an African American without investments from a partner or a corporation, because they had the drive to grow and help other employees facing tough situations.

"I'm always looking for the underdog," Perry told LinkedIn's editor-in-chief, Daniel Roth, who conducted the interview.

Career experts have long touted the importance of "hunger" in any successful career plan.

In fact, that's one of the three most important traits any manager trying to build a successful team should want in an employee, according to Patrick Lencioni, the author of "The Ideal Team Player: How to Recognize and Cultivate the Three Essential Virtues." Along with humility and basic smarts, hunger is essential to employees because it means "they have a strong work ethic, are determined to get things done and contribute any way they can," Lencioni told Forbes in 2016.

Because Perry values hunger and drive more than quantifiable talent, it has helped him make sure his staff is filled with employees from diverse backgrounds. Some members of his production crew are former inmates, while others have doctorates.

Once people are hired, though, Perry said it's important to keep them "hungry" by offering extensive feedback.

"I need people to say: 'Remember when you did this job? Well, this is what's going on,'" Perry said. "I think it's important to learn everyone's job so that you know who you're dealing with, how you're dealing with them, and how to get the best out of them."

Perry said he demanded drive from his workers more than anything else because he credited this one trait with helping him reach the pinnacles of Hollywood.

The actor has previously shared his struggles with homelessness when he was younger. While he was trying to make it in the industry, there were times when he had to live in his car or at a pay-by-the-week hotel, according to a 2010 interview in Oprah Magazine. Though he eventually hit it big, he says he's now on the lookout for people in similar circumstance who have the hunger to push through obstacles.

"I want the people like me," Perry told LinkedIn. "Who everybody counted out, who said, 'You're not going to make it.'"

Source: Business Insider:::

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