The Value of Talent

Talent rules! Nothing trumps talent.

When critical client and company decisions need to be made, you want your smartest people making those decisions. While loyalty and commitment are attributes that are often equated with talent, those qualities do not replace talent and cannot effectively exist without it. Having loyal, committed staff that permit "a ship to sink" does no one any good.

What is talent? I did not check Webster's, but to me it is a natural endowment: a special gift for solving problems, successfully completing essential tasks or finding creative solutions to business challenges.

I passionately believe that putting the most talented people in every spot is key to building an effective and successful organization.

Thus, bosses should hire subordinates that are smarter than they are. Subordinates should be free -- and even encouraged -- to "show up" the boss (in a tasteful way, of course). Skills on teams should be dissected so that the best and brightest in each category stand out. Consultants who bring a special expertise should be retained to shore up a weak spot.

Everyone should recognize that talent is king and rewards should come accordingly. People should be "big enough" to recognize the specific talents of others that they themselves do not possess.

Where talent goes, success follows. At Makovsky, our mission is "Smart people working in harmony to help clients and the agency win." But at the foundation of our mission is talent ... with commitment, loyalty and integrity right on talent's heels.

Technorati Tags: talent