Learning What Can’t Be Taught

By: Jonathan Briscoe

The other night after discussing talent levels in sports with my two boys, I asked them a question about baseball: “If two kids have the exact same talent across the board, how does the coach decide who plays?” They didn’t hesitate. “The one who runs faster. The one who throws harder.” I shook my head. “No. If all the talent is equal, the difference isn’t speed or strength. The difference is character.”

That conversation has stuck with me, because it mirrors a lesson I’ve had to learn repeatedly throughout my life. At banking school, one of the earliest truths I heard was this: you don’t just underwrite numbers, you underwrite people. Financials may look identical on paper, but only one borrower shows up on time, tells the truth, and keeps promises. The spreadsheets can’t teach you who to trust. You must learn that by watching character in action.

Now in business school, I see the same truth in leadership. Two people may have the same education and the same résumé.

But only one wins the room, because only one earns the respect that makes people want to follow. That is the part professors can’t teach: trust, integrity, and grit aren’t built in the classroom. They’re built in the choices you make every day.

That’s what I wanted my boys to hear. Skills can be coached. Knowledge can be taught. But character? You have to decide to build it. You must find a way to learn the things no one else can teach you. Because here’s the bottom line: Talent may get you in the game.

Character decides how long you stay. Skill might make people notice you.

Character makes them believe in you. In sports. In business. In life.

The lesson is the same: talent creates opportunities, but character is the difference-maker.

A question worth wrestling with: are you just sharpening skills anyone can teach, or are you also shaping the character only you can choose?