Let Your Talent Shine
TALENT MANAGEMENT IS THE FINAL COMPETITIVE FRONTIER
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light not our darkness, that most frightens us.
And as we let our light shine,
We unconsciously give other people permission to do the same”
-Nelson Mandela inaugural speech 1994
Everybody has talents, but most people do not know what their talents are. When you ask them, they look at you with a ‘blank stare’, and respond in terms of subject knowledge. In other words, most people focus on what they do, instead of identifying their talents and developing their skills to achieve positive and successful results.
For most people their talents are hiding in plain sight, but so interwoven, they can be hard to detect. However, they do leave tracks and can be recognised and developed.
There are definite methods of turning talent into consistently excellent performance. This can be done by benchmarking, measuring, recognising and developing the critical competencies necessary for superior performance and results in any position in your company.
How to Discover Your Talents
You can identify your talents by addressing the following three questions:
- Where have you the greatest potential for performance improvement and excellence?
- What are the areas of your work that you have a flair for, and enjoy?
- Where do you get your best results and sense of satisfaction?
When you can answer these questions, you have probably identified areas of excellence for you – areas of work and life where you can excel and do very well.
In order to develop those talents, we recommend you work on and develop the performance style that best matches your natural behaviours, your underlying attributes, and your motivators. Then add skill, knowledge and experience to put the icing on the cake.
Personal talent management is about turning these factors into competency strengths, to deliver business results and personal transformation.
How to Turn Your Talents into Results
The following five steps will help individuals and companies turn talents into results:
1. Build Your Self-Worth
Develop your self-concept by focusing on what you want in the ideal situation and environment, maintain a positive personal image, and develop your self-esteem. Self-esteem is the ‘engine-room’ for driving talents and competencies. Self-esteem is defined as ‘how much you feel valuable and worthwhile as a person, and how much you value your contribution to your organisation.
2. Control Your Mind
Re-programme your mind by taking control, and manage your thinking, which determines your feelings, your actions, and your results. You decide what you are going to think about and how you feel about things.
Be prepared to change and have the courage to change, because change is certain. ‘Change when you have a chance of winning, or one day you may be forced to change when you have no chance of winning’.
3. Set Goals and Personal Strategy
Goals and personal strategy give you focus, clarity and direction for your life and business. They help you identify and develop your talents and lead you to success in life and work. A person without a direction is like a ship without a destination, they drift on the currents of life. People with goals and strategy have clarity, focus and ‘pep in their step’. Businesses with strategy outperform those without direction and purpose.
4. Become a Problem Solver and Decision Maker
Many talents, like diamonds, come disguised as hard work. You must be prepared to confront interesting problems and challenges in order to avail of the opportunities that are hiding in your talents. The key method of handling problems is to address them when they are still small, because they will probably not go away. Secondly, make a decision to bring closure to all outstanding issues.
5. Take Action
A talent that is not mined, honed and developed has the same effect as a non existent talent. If you do not use your talents, they are of no benefit to you. Therefore, unless you identify your area of excellence, your hidden and expressed talents and you are prepared to take the necessary steps to move forward and utilise your talents, you will not achieve the enjoyment, job satisfaction and business results that is within your potential and talents.
It is important that you recognise and utilise your talents and gifts, lest you go to your grave with your music still in you. Enjoy your talents and enjoy exploring your potential in life and work and success will come your way.