Does Talent Matter to Organizations?
Geoff Colvin author of Talent is Overrated: What Really Separates World-Class Performers from Everybody Else discovered that it was not necessary to be born with natural talent or intelligence to excel, but it is important to have a strong desire to be the best or at least to become better at whatever it is we want to do.
Colvin summarized the key element as deliberate practice which he defined as constantly practicing what needs to be improved usually based on feedback from a mentor or coach. This is easy to understand when referring to professional athletes or musicians, but what about leaders and organizations?
“Not all organizations want to be great,” says Colvin. In the global economy that is intensely competitive, the abilities of the people in an organization will determine the organization’s success or failure. “In a world of forces that push toward the commodization of everything, creating something new and different is the only way to survive.”
At a time when creativity and innovation may give a firm a competitive advantage, organizations should want everyone performing at the highest possible level. Yet, many companies are quick to cut training and development budgets. High performing employees want firms where professional development is a priority. Likewise, firms that are known for developing people are said to have a “first-pick advantage.” Talent may be overrated, but becoming a world-class performer and organization full of top performers is based on learned behaviors.
According to Colvin, there are principles of great performance that organizations can follow:
* Understand that each person in the organization is not just doing a job, but is also being stretched and grown. Push and stretch them through job assignments, mentoring, and coaching.
* Encourage leaders to be active in their communities. Leadership roles in charities and community activities are opportunities to practice skills that are valuable at work.
* Understand the critical roles of teachers and of feedback. At most top-performing organizations, coaching and mentoring programs with candid feedback are embedded into the culture.
* Identify promising performers early. Developing future leaders as early as possible creates a competitive advantage years into the future.
* Understand that people development works best through inspiration, not authority. Command and control leadership will not work with knowledge workers. The best-performing companies help inspire their workers.
* Invest significant time, money, and energy in developing people. CEOs at top-performing companies believe that people development is at the center of their jobs. For example, at McDonald’s, CEO Jim Skinner personally reviews the development of the top 200 managers. At GE, Jeffrey Immelt reviews the top 600.
* Make leadership development part of the culture. Applying these principles is “walking the talk.”
Based on Colvin’s research, “Developing leaders isn’t a program, it’s a way of life.”
Since most people don’t work alone in organizations, it is just as important to develop effective teams where members trust one another. Colvin says that this is not difficult because it is based on applying the principles of great performance to team development: well-designed practice activities, coaching, repetition, feedback, and building knowledge of the company and industry.
As Colvin discovered, top performance either as an individual, team, or organization is not based on natural talent or intelligence. It is based on understanding the principles of great performance and having the desire to commit to the discipline needed to engage in deliberate practice. Even if we are good at what we do, we can always get better.
But are we willing to do the work to get better?
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