Pardon the somewhat philosophical title for this post.  But I do ask it with some earnestness.  I commented before about how “talent” is climbing up the list of important business issues that executives are paying attention to.  I also noted that CEO’s seem to have great difficulties explaining what they mean by talent.

Here’s why:  they lack data.  Hard measurements and operational data belong to the CFO and the production side of the business.  When it comes to talent, we can’t agree on what we’re talking about because we simply cannot measure it.  The truth is we can, but most people don’t know how. 

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First, a confession: I’m tired of the pundits and media piling on about the economy.  Yeah, things are messy and there are people having a tough time.  But there are other things happening too.

Layoffs mean that some good workers are getting indiscriminately released into the pool of the unemployed.   In other businesses, the top talent is biding its time, ready to move on when better times and better opportunities appear.  Smart leaders are making investments in discovering, measuring and developing their top talent. 

One problem is that most leaders don’t see the full extent of the talent they have.  Top performers are not the only talent in a company.   Leaders MUST get better at discovering the talent they have and learning what talent really looks like.

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We interrupt this holiday shopping season with an important announcement.

Retail is down this year.  The world economy is in a slowdown mode, a recession that is being felt in many places across the world. 

Some businesses are playing pure defense and fighting for survival.  Not all of them are making it.  Others are ” hunkered down”  and trying to ride out the storm.  A few are looking for opportunities and places to grow.  All businesses must do some sharp thinking and planning about top talent.  For those who are shedding jobs and having to let workers go, the challenge that follows is:  how do we keep/retain our top talent?  A similar question occupies those who are playing defense and riding out the storm, though perhaps with less urgency felt.  The entrepreneurs and opportunists see this as a prime time to scoop up additional talent.

It’s not easy to focus on talent strategies when the headlines get darker and steal our attention almost daily.  Those who develop a discipline and ability to keep their eye on talent are the ones who will pull through this and be farther ahead of the game when things do get better.  Business cycles show that there are better times ahead.  It takes vision now to plan for the coming growth and to put/keep the right talent in place to harvest it.

I had a colleage ask me today about talent management and my experience with how employees respond to talent management efforts at work.  Here’s some of what I shared with her.

From the employee side, there is a natural concern about fairness and favoritism; will Talent Management (TM) be administered fairly and give everyone an equal chance to succeed?  Will it be a cover for leaders who are championing/grooming/promoting their own favorites?

Also, most TM efforts or programs have some kind of measurement included with them.  Some of those include personal profiles or talent assessments.  Some people have a natural fear about how those will be viewed or used by management.  Other measurements are more tied to performance management or productivity or contribution to the company.  Some employees don’t like the additional scrutiny that comes with measurement–period.

Honestly, a lot of “talent management” efforts are really HR-sponsored drives that are modest in their goals/design and don’t have real staying power.  Employees have a legitimate right to question if TM is a “flavor of the year” hobby that will be eventually abandoned in 12-24 months.  That often seems to be what happens unless management is fully committed to it and is willing to make it a robust, long-lasting change in how the organization thinks about and practices talent management.

Of course, I encourage leaders who are committed to developing top talent to exercise some empathy and think first about how their efforts are going to be received by employees.  It can avoid a lot of pain and waste later on.

My wife encouraged me to write something about talent and the interface with the elections in the US.  I scratched my head (figuratively) until some of the following thoughts came together.

Look at the leaders of a democratic country–they are a reflection (or projection if you will) of the people they represent.  The aspirations, pride, patriotism, greed, humanity, biases, wisdom, folly, enlightenment and blindness of the people are embodied in the elected leaders.  The talent and judgment and choices of the people gets elected to office.  When people are unhappy with their leaders, on some level they are also unhappy with themselves.  That may sound philosophical to some, but it’s also the cold, hard truth.

Most people focus on the leaders–the candidates and their positions, policies, their merits and flaws.  I encourage you though to look at the electorate, the people who vote and put the leaders in office.  It’s the talent of the people who go to the polls that determines the direction of a country to a much greater degree than the individual they elect.  When we ignore that and elevate our leaders to to a cult-hero status, we literally give our power away. 

Today, on the eve of the US election I’m going to champion the talent of the people, the great mass who will collectively decide the direction and leadership of their country.  Whether you agree or not with the outcome, look a little deeper into the wisdom of the choice that is made.  That choice will arise from a deep collective talent finding expression.

I’m writing this from Mexico City.  It’s been 21 years since my last trip here when I was a university student. 

mexico_mural

 It seems that a lot has changed (and some things have), but I also know that I have changed.  The pollution is not bad today–I can actually see the mountains surrounding the Valley of Mexico from downtown.  The city doesn’t seem so dirty (I’ve seen worse in Bangkok and Jakarta).

When I came as a student, I was leading a group of friends to do some community service and also some sightseeing on our spring break.  This time, I’m sharing the experience with my wife and two young boys, and I’m enjoying seeing the city through their fresh young eyes.

mexico-city-october2008

It helps to get out of my familiar place and routine; I notice more and see things with a new perspective.  I notice talent around me and I’m more appreciative of people who try extra hard.  Just today I’ve had three experiences of top notch service.  I attribute this to two elements:  there has been good training on how to deliver great service, and there is a supporting culture that reinforces this standard.  I’m not talking about the Mexican national culture, but the specific sub-cultures that the individuals I’ve encountered are a part of.  I can see the contrast, because today I also experienced some horrendous service by someone of the same national culture.  In fact, the individual himself tried hard and did a fairly good job, but the environment he works in is definitely not a culture that trains and delivers top talent service, and I was one of many unhappy customers.

I recommend you get away from the familiar if you haven’t seen many examples of top talent lately.  You don’t have to travel out of the country or go on vacation.  Just go someplace that is different or out of the ordinary for you, and take time to notice the talent of the people you are interacting with.  What do you see?  What can you learn from this?