http://www.develop-top-talent.com Strategies to develop your top talent Fri, 05 Mar 2010 22:16:48 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en "I always have a choice."  A simple, bold declaration begins my personal philosophy of choice that includes both personal and interpersonal axioms in it.  This is bold because on a subjective level it oftens feels that I have no choice.  But the deeper truth is that I really do.  In ... http://www.develop-top-talent.com/accountability/i-always-have-a-choice How can this be?  Productivity is supposed to be a good thing.  Productivity is the measure of how much a business produces divided by the number of workers, so if productivity goes up a business should make more money.  How can this be a talent killer? Think about the definition again.  ... http://www.develop-top-talent.com/talent/productivity-is-killing-talent-practices-in-business I've advocated many times for an "evidence based" approach to management and business.  Too often I come across people who are getting acceptable results but when pressed to explain, they clearly don't know why it's working.  When they stop getting results, they don't know what to change or do different.  ... http://www.develop-top-talent.com/models/beware-the-wildness-hidden Groan...  Yes, we're going to talk about performance appraisals/annual reviews. Why do we dislike them so much?  Common reasons: The process feels awkward. It doesn't yield meaningful information. Bosses don't do it well. Employees experience great anxiety. It seems so subjective or unfair How can we do a better job? Focus on performance.  Seems obvious, right?  The major ... http://www.develop-top-talent.com/leadership/how-to-give-an-appraisal I've been writing in a journal occasionally over the past 20 years.  Recently I've started writing almost daily for the past five months.  Sometimes I write personal reflections/recollections of what happened, or how I'm thinking about the present situation, or I look to the future. Today, I posed a challenging question ... http://www.develop-top-talent.com/leadership/using-a-journal-to-work-on-hard-questions Recently we looked at two different approaches to developing talent:  paying premiums in compensation packages and investing in a strong internal culture.  Yesterday  John Mack, Chairman and CEO of Morgan Stanley told his shareholders that he has to pay employees well to keep top talent and grow the business, but he doesn't ... http://www.develop-top-talent.com/leadership/top-talent-and-the-money-game It's common to think of top talent as people who are just plain smarter than the rest, the really bright people who stand out.  There are obviously some linkages, but they aren't as hard and fast as they first appear.  Smart people who don't really apply themselves can't be classified ... http://www.develop-top-talent.com/talent/brain-science-top-talent What kind of companies tend to keep top talent?  Those that pay a lot or are leaders in their field?  What about those who have an engaging culture?  Let's take a moment to look at both of those possible answers and see what part culture plays in attracting, developing and ... http://www.develop-top-talent.com/models/talent-and-the-culture-factor I see a lot of hand-wringing going on around me these days.  "What will happen in the economy?"  "When will things get better?"  The causes for worry and uncertainty are endless, but I have a simple way to respond. Turn down the external noise (it helps to visualize actually turning down ... http://www.develop-top-talent.com/accountability/self-mastery-and-entrepreneurialism Is anyone out there scratching your head trying to remember the last time you were in a "strategy meeting"?  For most readers of this blog, the problem is not that you are rarely in a strategic situation, but that you probably don't recognize it as often as you should. What qualifies ... http://www.develop-top-talent.com/leadership/get-more-out-of-strategy-meetings