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Fox Chase Bank president and CEO Tom Petro has developed a framework for assessing the contribution capacity of people at work. He calls it the "Petro Pyramid" because it involves a series of ascending steps that lead to peak contribution at work. The steps, in order of ascension, are as follows: Aptitudes, Intelligence, Emotional Intelligence, Interests, Skills, and Experience. Each builds upon its predecessors. The next section outlines each step in detail:

Aptitudes — Aptitudes are a natural ability to do something. While researchers do not fully understand how individual aptitudes are acquired, it is clear that each of us is born with varying levels of ability. We cannot choose our aptitudes but we can choose to leverage them to develop skills.

The Johnson O'Connor Research Foundation and Human Engineering Laboratory¹ has developed a set of tests that measure for approximately thirty different aptitudes. Most of us have five to seven aptitudes, although some can have fewer and some are gifted with as many as twenty or more. Some examples of aptitudes include:

• Divergent Thinking — Some people are full of ideas, thoughts, plans and projects. They will tend to score high in ideaphoria, which is the ability to quickly generate ideas.
• Inductive Reasoning — Some people are able to see quickly a common element among heterogeneous ideas, observations and facts. They will score high in tests of convergent thinking. A research scientist, for example, would use this ability when forming a theory that explains experimental evidence.
• Structural visualization — Some people easily see objects in three-dimensional form. They can easily visualize how a blueprint will look when it is built. This aptitude is very useful in engineering, construction, architecture and other physical fields. It is also a powerful aptitude for insurance actuaries, bankers and others who use mathematics to understand patterns.
• Memory — There are a number of memory aptitudes and strength in one does not mean that you will necessarily have strength in all memory aptitudes. These include aptitudes for design memory, number memory, silogram memory (essential for learning foreign languages or technical jargon), and observation memory (the ability to spot and remember details).
• Auditory aptitudes — There are a number of sound-related aptitudes including rhythm memory, pitch discrimination and tonal memory that may explain why you enjoy playing an instrument or why you cannot carry a tune.

Aptitudes are the foundation of contribution since they form the reservoir of natural ability and strengths that each person brings to their work. Even without understanding their aptitudes, people discover that they must find expression for their aptitudes in their work or avocations. Although most people with sufficient persistence can acquire a skill, those who have natural aptitudes appropriate for this skill tend to learn it more readily and enjoy using the skill more frequently. If a person does not have natural aptitudes pertinent to their assigned task, they may struggle on the job, and will perform differently than those naturally inclined for the work. Every task in your organization requires one or more aptitudes on the part of the person performing the task. Why not assign that task to someone who has a natural ability to do the work well?

Intelligence — Intelligence is the ability to acquire and apply knowledge and skills. Like our aptitudes, we do not choose our intelligence; we are born with it. We can choose to apply our intelligence to acquire and develop knowledge and skills. However, we cannot acquire any more intelligence than we are born with. Intelligence is frequently measured through IQ tests.

Emotional Intelligence — Emotional intelligence, sometimes referred to as "EQ", is the ability, capacity, and skill to perceive, assess, and manage the emotions of one's self, of others and of groups. Like it or not, we are emotional beings and our ability to contribute to business results is often wrapped in our emotions.

Salovey and Mayer² developed a four-branch model to assess four different, but related, capacities. These are the capacity to:

• Accurately perceive emotions
• Use emotions to facilitate thinking
• Understand emotional meanings
• Manage emotions

Goleman³ divides emotional intelligence into the following five emotional competencies:

1. The ability to identify and name one's emotional states and to understand the link between emotions, thought and action.
2. The capacity to manage one's emotional states — to control emotions or to shift undesirable emotional states to ones that are more adequate.
3. The ability to enter into emotional states (at will) associated with a drive to achieve and be successful.
4. The capacity to read, be sensitive to, and influence other people's emotions.
5. The ability to enter and sustain satisfactory interpersonal relationships.
   
   "In Goleman's view, these emotional competencies build on each other in a hierarchy. At the bottom of his hierarchy "1" is the ability to identify one's emotional state. Some knowledge of "competency 1" is needed to move to the next competency. Likewise, knowledge and/or skill in the first three competencies is needed to read and influence positively other people's emotions ("competency 4"). The first four competencies lead to increased ability to enter and sustain good relationships ("competency 5"). "⁴

Emotional intelligence is a result of our upbringing, parenting and early life experiences and the ways we develop into spiritually fit and emotionally secure adults. Our level of emotional intelligence is crucial to our overall work performance when our work requires us to be in relationship with co-workers, supervisors, suppliers or customers. Businesses tend to prize rational thinking over and above emotional intelligence. However, it is often the later that ultimately predicts our ability to successfully work with others.

Interests — Interest is the quality of exciting our curiosity and holding our attention that fuels our desire to learn about something and to apply ourselves to acquire and develop skills and knowledge. While our aptitudes, intelligence and EQ work together to inform our interests, we may have interests that are not supported by our natural or emotional abilities. Alternately, we may have aptitudes, intelligence and emotional abilities that we have no interest in using or developing. Thus, it is not enough that an employee has a natural ability; they have to have a desire to use that natural ability on the job for them to contribute to business results.

Skills — When a person has or shows the knowledge, ability or training to perform a certain activity or task well we call the person skilled. Unlike aptitudes and intelligence, skills are learned. They develop from applying our aptitudes, intelligence and emotional intelligence in pursuit of knowledge. And it helps a great deal if that effort is fueled by a genuine interest in the subject or body of knowledge to which we apply ourselves

Skills take time to develop. They require practice and persistence. Yet the acquisition of a new skill is not burdensome when supported by the related aptitudes, intelligence and a personal interest in the subject matter. Even when related aptitudes are not evidenced, a skill may be developed with persistent and dedicated effort.

Many people make the mistake of trying to improve their weaknesses. There is no such thing as a well-rounded person. We are each a mix of peaks and valleys. Where there are high peaks, there will be deep valleys. No amount of weight training will build my arms to be as strong as my legs. Yet many make the mistake of trying to build strong muscles out of weak ones. If aptitudes and intelligence do not support skill development in a particular area, it is better to shift your developmental focus to the areas where you have strong aptitudes.

Experience — Perhaps you have heard the old adage, "it's not what you know, but what you do with what you know that produces results." It's true. The accumulated sum of our practical knowledge, skills or practice derived from direct observation of or participation in events or a particular activity is our experience. Put simply, it is what we have done or been a part of combined with what we know and who we are. Often experience is the best teacher. It has been said that we learn more from our failures than through our successes

Experience is often cited as the primary predictor of success in a new endeavor. Experience is often more easily assessable than aptitudes, intelligence, emotional intelligence and interests. Thus, experience is most frequently used as a proxy to determine whether a person will succeed in making a valuable contribution in a new role. However, no two situations are identical. While experience is exceptionally valuable in learning to avoid repeats of past mistakes, it is our aptitudes, intelligence, EQ, interests and skills that will be drawn on to produce results in the new situation. Thus, these traits, and not necessarily experience, are the true predictors of successful contributions.

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