What's the most important thing to look for in a partner? The list can be long. Whether we're talking romantically, friendship or in business, the partners and people we choose can determine the success of ours or our organizations lives.
These Medium headlines can be a little over simplified sometimes (3 ways to fix "insert challenge here"), I think this article on finding the right partner got it right. You're looking for someone with emotional self-sufficiency or as Mark Manson puts it "the ability to see one’s own flaws and be accountable for them."
As humans we are innately imperfect. By choosing a partner who is self-aware and accountable we make space for mistakes, imperfection and most importantly growing and learning together. The level of awareness we have allows us to make progress on our own growth, which helps avoid complacency and strengthen our partnership.
It's hard to find individuals to live or work closely with for long periods of time, I think this filter (in addition to a root values check) is about as good as we can get to understand if a colleague, employee, wife/husband or friend is going to stand the test of time. How do they react to a situation when something goes poorly? Is there external blame or a level of personal accountability around what has happened? Sure, there might be an emotional or shame-based reaction to start, but how long does that last?
This has been my own personal test – how much does someone use excuses to explain the outcome of a situation? It came as an inspiration from this Florence Nightingale quote that I've been trying to live into myself.
Being a Force for Good 