The document discusses how top organizations identify talent and the key traits they look for. It describes 7 traits that successful organizations seek out: desire to learn, efficiency, judgment, resilience, compatibility, self-reliance, and acumen. Through examples from the military, teaching, and business, it explores how resilience, overcoming challenges, and nontraditional backgrounds and experiences are highly valued. The document advocates looking beyond traditional measures like resumes and degrees, and considering character over specific skills when identifying exceptional talent.