I’m not talking networks here. I’m speaking about testing and troubleshooting of our collective psyche in this economy. We’re all being tested in ways we’ve never imagined. But, is this type of troubleshooting necessary to see if we will remain true to the person we aim to be – even in bad times?

This is truth at its most raw. Are we able to act like the hard-working, kind-hearted people we say we are when the economic landscape is bleak, to say the least?

A long time ago, I read a simple analogy about what happens when our character is put to the test. It’s far more fitting right now than any time I’ve experienced in my adult years.

Here goes: Simply put, when a blacksmith purifies a base metal, he heats the ore (having added the essential carbon or another reducing agent) until the ore becomes liquid, and the impurities, or slag, float to the top. The slag is then collected and discarded. Only at an exact and extremely high temperature for that ore will this transformation occur. Without this dramatic separation process, smelting, the ore of the base metal remains simply ore, and the fine metal remains locked within it, not available for use. Smelting liberates the metal, allowing it to perform in more and much stronger ways than it was capable of before this transformation.

Is that not what we as professionals are going through right now? I can’t say I’m lovin’ this heat and the day-to-day test of my character at work. But, I’m determined it’s a test I will pass.

Bottom line: It’s easy to be a good and hard-working person when the rewards are external and give me the concrete appreciation I crave. But, take away the financial rewards and strip away the day-to-day professional wins: what am I really like?

Do I bark at people because things aren’t going my way? Do I pout like a young child? Do I walk around looking for the sky to fall? Do I push away those people who matter the most because I can take my frustration out on them and they’re not goin’ anywhere?

Who am I at the core? That’s the most important test I must pass. When I’m plunged into the fire, will I become something better or will I rationalize that I simply can’t handle the heat?

A hot test, indeed. One that we all must troubleshoot in a most aggressive manner if we want to be the professionals we believe ourselves to be.

Do you have any questions or comments, please contact Sharon at sharon@ospmag.com.