The War is Not to Find Talent - It's to Use the Talent You Have Already!

The search for talent is ongoing. Individuals seek to originate their talents, companies seek to recognize talent and hold it, succession planning requires it, politicians plan for it, and the world wants to find it. But what is it?

I was having dinner at a friend's home and the subject came up because their 11 year old son had recently brought home his school narrative card which stated from his art teacher: "[His] talent is yet to be fully developed." His mother, all the time one for a quick tongue responded "His only talent is manufacture excuses for not doing his homework."

Train Table For Kids

The young boy sat at the table grimacing and whilst his mum meant it in jest, there was an element of truth in it. I said "I see a glittering hereafter as a political spin-doctor." The boy's eyes lit up. This so-called talent had a purpose.

The word "talent" is bandied nearby for so many things and we don't all the time truly understand what is meant by "talent". So to the trusty dictionary...

Talent: innate mental or artistic aptitude (as opposed to acquired ability); less than genius.

So what is innate? Innate: existing in one from birth; inborn; native: innate musical talent.

Now, my core company is experiential training and a behaviouralist, so if talent cannot be acquired... Better find a Better definition...

Talent: natural capability to do something well.

That nasty word 'natural'

Natural: based on the state of things in nature; constituted by nature: growth is a natural process.

The Thesaurus, all the time illuminating, and find 'talent' connected with words like 'ability', - 'adeptness', 'adroitness', 'charisma', 'facility', 'gift', 'knack', 'wisdom', 'gumption', 'capacity', 'brilliance' and 'genius'

It seems that you are whether born with a talent or not. No acquiring a talent, developing it certainly, but if the foundation is not there...

Companies seek 'talent' for succession planning, as do politicians. It is most often connected with leadership or management 'talent'.

Companies are also hooked on retaining talent. And indeed that's right, once you have talent in your organisation, you indeed don't want to lose it. Many, inspired by a Mckinnsey narrative in 1997 "The War for Talent" took this to extreme, indulging 'talent' and doing all they could to keep them engaged, satisfied, even delighted. Malcolm Gladwell, author of The Tipping Point, wrote an narrative in the New Yorker magazine in 2002 entitled "The Talent Myth". By then the whole 'War for talent' was under a dark, ominous cloud called Enron. The McKinssey narrative had, after all, been largely based on what Enron was doing at the time and how every person should emulate it.

The issue is that 'talent' is most often ascribed to the very brightest, highly motivated individuals who are very driven. And being intelligent (intelligent) does not, necessarily, mean talent. Being 'driven' is not the only criteria for success.

I have met and worked with many talented individuals. In fact, I believe that every single man has talent. What that talent is and how it can be used by companies is other matter.

If we accept that talent is something that you are born with, indeed we need to know how do we recognize talent, and how do we leverage that talent?

Identifying talent

I've seen this in many organisations. The brightest and best are identified as part of the talent pool - there's some fanfare, a suite of training programs, possibly Mbas are taken and the talent are promoted. Meanwhile, the non-talent morale has sunk, many have quit or actively seeking new positions, commitment has dropped and operation suffered. The talent, being highly driven, take this upon themselves and make up for the loss, working extra hard and many burning out. There follows a new initiative to gather the work-life equilibrium and a big drive to hold talent.

An alternative

We can talk to the existing talent - the best leaders, managers, the best private contributors - not just from your own organisation but others too, and uncover their foundational talents that enable them to be all that they are. It indeed can be quite surprising:

The Sales head of a global telecomms company, top sales, driven, emulated by staff. Talent: Running! The Cfo of a globally preponderant auditing firm, admired by staff, relied on by the entire organisation, inspirational and respected. Talent: Artist! executive Head Chef, world famous, near-worshiped by other chefs. Talent: Calculus! The Coo of an International Bank, greatly respected, charismatic and exceptional innovative buyer service. Talent: Acting! Innovative Entrepreneur, favorite by staff, gregarious, fun and incredibly creative. Talent: Comedian!

There are many other examples, some obvious, many not. What is base to most of the citizen we have interviewed is that their talent itself is not what enables them to do what they do, it is how they do the talent.

I advise that we do something a itsybitsy different. Why not find what the underlying and true individual's talents are and then leverage them towards the leadership or management attributes you need? Or perhaps, we can recognize their talent and find out where they best fit in your organisation and for some, covering it.

Leveraging Talent

Taking someone's talent and leveraging it into the workplace requires a itsybitsy creative thinking. Fortunately, creative mental is something that we can develop. It's part de Bono's lateral mental and part conceptual mapping. Some connections make absolute and logical sense, others want us to dig into the talent and how that talent is done by the individual. Using the examples cited above, I shall briefly shape the main connections that the private leveraged - whether on their own 'naturally' or straight through coaching.

"Running was all I ever wanted to do. I'd get up early every morning and race the postman on his bike. For me, it was freedom. Now, I run with my team, we race the competition and we enjoy the leisure we gain from our bonuses and commission."

"As a kid, I was all the time drawing. I loved to draw. Cartoons especially, and comics. When I was at original school I drew my first comic which turned into a series and a long story - intricately entwined with sub-plots and separate characters. By the time I went to university, I'd all but stopped drawing, taking accountancy because that's where the jobs were. Today, I guess I'm still drawing comics in a way. I look for the sub-plots in the accounts, what's the other story behind the main one and that's how I teach my staff. Look for the sub-plots - it makes auditing a whole lot more fun."

"Calculus was easy. every person else idea it was indeed difficult and stupid, but I found it easy. I'd get a thrill from seeing the right answer. It's determined to me now, my recipes are just a form of calculus, you take ingredients A and B and turn them into X. I don't 'think I'll tell my chefs that, they might think I'm a nerd and not the great artiste."

"I first acted in a play at kindergarten. I was a tree. But I was the best tree ever. My parents favorite my acting, all the time encouraging me, in fact they wanted me to continue straight through drama school and everything. I think they idea I would be a movie star. I did try for a while when I went to university but I never had any money. After uni, I joined a local drama club, met my wife and we soon had our first child. So I left the acting world and joined a local bank - great prospects, regular wages and, a subsidised mortgage. I suppose that a Coo is rather like a director in a play, manufacture sure that the right citizen are in the right place at the right time with the right script. Brilliant!"

"I was all the time the joker of the family. My brother bore the brunt of most of my wilder practical jokes - and some of them weren't indeed funny at all. It got me in a lot of issue at school. In the end I quit and worked on a store stall. I worked for this indeed sour faced bloke selling vegetables - blimey he was miserable. He hated my joking with the customers, but they loved it and kept arrival back, so he didn't 'stop me. I'm still a joker, I like a laugh and I like to keep the guys happy. I suppose being the centre of attentiveness does something for me. That's why I set this up (the company), being the centre of everyone's' attentiveness and we make money. I all the time say, if you can't have a laugh while your living life then life will laugh at you."

Find your talent and find a way to use it.

Copyright (c) 2008 GainMore Advantage

The War is Not to Find Talent - It's to Use the Talent You Have Already!