In the world of public relations and recruitment, people are often chosen for the job based on their character traits, and there are certain attributes that make one person more suited to the position of CEO than the other 500 who applied for the job:

The recruiter eventually knows which people to add to the interviewing shortlist based on (at least partially) their strongest character attributes – and who makes the shorter shortlist from there.

Bridge is no exception.

There are some character traits that seem to define professional (and any adept) bridge player. Many of these are attributes that only show themselves once the person has sat down at a bridge table and the game has begun – which can show that appearances can be deceiving, and often say nothing about these character traits.

These traits can also, thankfully, be developed, cultivated and made second nature if wanting to be a bridge professional (or just better at the tables) is one of your aspirations.

Here are a few character attributes you can attribute to successful players – and how to boost these skills in yourself.

1. Fairness

Most of the bridge players I know – and certainly most of the good ones – are always fair. Violations of the rules are out of the question as far as these players are concerned, and they know the rules by the book (and they’re willing to look it up and admit their wrongs in the case that a mistake is made).

Sure, one or two of the people I’ve met in my time have been complete unmentionables away from the table, but when they’re playing bridge, who they are doesn’t matter: They’re still fair in how they play their game.

2. Creativity

Creativity doesn’t just mean that you can sculpt, paint or create source code out of thin air: Sometimes creativity also extends to the rest of your thought process, and allows people to think their way out of really hard situations. Yes, it’s the whole “thinking outside of the box” cliche – but it’s still true when it comes to most bridge players. If you want to be decent, develop this skill early.

3. Foresight

If there’s another thing I can say for most adept bridge players, it’s the fact that they have damn good foresight – and they’re always a few moves ahead, usually at both bridge and chess. This is a good skill for anyone to develop (especially anyone who wants to be a successful bridge player).

How the heck do you develop foresight? Play and kibitz – and repeat this over and over again until you start to see patterns, which you’ll eventually (after a lot of practice) see other players replicate.

4. Inventiveness

Almost all of the bridge players I know are inventive in one way or another outside of the game – and pretty damn inventive at how they play the game, too. Develop both versatility and inventiveness (that is, the ability to generate creative thought) as a daily skill until it becomes second nature: It helps to keep your neural pathways fresh, and it can help your bridge game and everything outside of it.

How? Keep a notebook, and keep adding to it every time you have an idea or thought. It’s useful to artists, bridge players and certainly everyone who wants to learn where ideas comes from.

5. Versatility

Versatility counts: A great deal of players I know don’t limit themselves just to bridge, but also happen to branch into many other games (if only on occasion). Some people are gods at backgammon, while others can just hold their own at chess – but most know a few games by heart that aren’t just bridge.

Branch out. Be versatile. See how well you do when the tool  is a card deck and the game isn’t your traditional variety of bridge. Play TCGs with a local club or learn a new, obscure card game from the other side of the world.

Again, it helps to keep neural pathways fresh.

6. Confidence

When I say that most experienced and adept bridge players display a certain level of confidence, I don’t necessarily mean that they strut around like cocky chickens.

In fact, I know many players (including myself) who consider themselves awkward at events and shy away from conversation in a manner that doesn’t make them appear confidence – but the moment a great deal of these players have sat down at the table with a card deck, be very afraid.

It’s like Yu-Gi just switched, and the level of confidence you’ll see from there on in can be incredible.

7. Consideration

Successful bridge players are both tactful and considerate to their bridge partners and opponents – and the ones that aren’t won’t last very long in any club or circle of card playing friends.

Since bridge is a partnership game, being nice to the variety of partners you’ll meet over years or decades of bridge play is something that will really help you as a player (and as a team). As they say, don’t burn your bridges.