LEADERSHIP: THE ART OF LIBERATING TALENT

An article in The Economist (October 5, 2006)* highlights the value of "brainpower (both natural and trained) and especially the ability to think creatively."  It states that "the value of 'intangible' assets - everything from skilled workers to patents to know-how - has ballooned (since 1980) from 20% of the value of companies in the S&P 500 to 70% today."  Also that "the proportion of American workers doing jobs that call for complex skills has grown three times as fast as employment in general."

Unfortunately, many organisations and leaders look at talent as something to be acquired - rather than unlocked.  You can (and should) search for new people - and hone the skills of existing staff.  But, all this has a cost - and much of it operates at the margin.  A new person here; some additional training there.

But what about unleashing the abilities and talents of all your existing staff - getting them to operate at a higher level through enthusiasm, commitment and creativity.  Each of us knows that some days we work better than others.  Equally, that we work more productively or creatively for this boss rather than that one.

And, there's plenty of research (to reinforce our anecdotes) of superior leaders eliciting greatly improved performance.  It's the CEOs and other leaders, who're the generals in any war for talent.  HR staff and recruiters can help but they're the staff officers and sergeants, when it comes to unlocking talent.

But, what do superior leaders do?  They build alignment around agreed goals.  Create organisational will.  Engender constructive values.  Establish operating standards.  Build teams and relationships.  Encourage learning and reinventing.

Inspire your people to excel!

Categories for this Potshot:

Articles from The Economist, Develop staff and succession, Create goal alignment, Lift organisational will, Establish constructive values, Set operating standards, Build teams and relationships, Foster learning and reinventing,

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