People don’t change much. In her excellent piece on the firing of University of Arkansas football
coach Bobby Petrino, Jena McGregor quotes Sports Illustrated writer Andrew
Rosenberg as saying:

“if we were playing a game, and you asked me to guess which major-college
coach hired his mistress to work with his football program, got in a motorcycle
accident with her on board, then lied to his bosses about the relationship, I
could have guessed ‘Bobby Petrino’ faster than it takes him to print out his
resume.”

That’s because Petrino has a history of less-than-exemplary behavior. The
people at Arkansas hired him anyway. Now they’ve fired him and soon someone else
will hire him at a yearly salary that includes two commas. They will hope that
Petrino will change. He probably won’t.

Why should he? After all, he’s got a bunch of money in the bank and he’ll get
another job coaching football. There’s bound to be another football program out
there that cares more about winning than the character of the coach.

If you’re a boss, think about this when it’s hiring time or time to select
people for your team. If a person lied to his or her last boss, they’ll probably
lie to you. If they were a credit hog or liked to “kiss up and kick down,” those
behaviors aren’t likely to change. Put these people on your team at your peril.

Boss’s Bottom Line

Liars probably won’t stop lying. Thieves will probably steal again. Be
careful out there.