Keynote topic

You don’t need more data

Talent management is about great conversations. I have used the Strengthsfinder assessment to facilitate the start of over 500 of these conversations. Now you can get more data from Gallup on the Strengthsfinder assessment, but you do not need more data. Here is why.

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My Top 4 Learning Tools

Where do you learn? Here are my top four sources of learning. Talent management is about great conversations. What is the conversation you are having with yourself about what you need to learn today?

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1 on 1’s – Do you ask this question?

Talent management is about great conversation. The most valuable conversation between a leader and a team member is the one on one. Within that conversation are three questions a leader can use to get some feedback on how they are doing. Here are the two I came up with and one that is shared from a leader in my network.

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Make Good Decisions Dad

Leadership development can happen anywhere. Talent management is about having great conversations and doing something positive with what you hear and learn. This lesson in leadership was from the mouth of a nine year old, and I am glad I listened.

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Rule 3 – NEVER cancel without rescheduling

Trust is critical in a healthy relationship. For leaders, a way to establish it is to put great value on the one on one time and never cancel without rescheduling right away. This is the final rules for one on ones that must NEVER be broken. Talent management is about great conversations. Follow these three rules and you are on your way to having them.

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Performance plan = Coaching? 2 Arguments for NO

Coaching is a term used by leaders and organizations in many performance conversations. Using it as a label for helping individuals through a performance plan is the wrong move. Talent management is about having great conversations, and connecting coaching with ‘I am in trouble’ will forever taint your process. Here are two reasons why . . . .

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Rule 2 – Individual (not leader) owns the agenda

A key conversation and habit for any leader is the one on one. Here is the second rule for leaders doing one one ones – letting the owner be the individual, not the leader. Talent management is about great conversations, and this one will be more effective if the ownership is not with the leader.

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Rule 1 – Be in the same room together

Talent management is about great conversations. For leaders, it is about shutting out the other things and focusing on one person at a time. This is called a one one one, and here is a template on how to do it. Some data – parents and kids only spend about 3.5 minutes a day in meaningful conversation. So what would your habits at work say about the quality time you spend with your people?

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It must be the shoes – Yes and No, but mostly No

Making the most of the talent in ourselves is less about learning and more about heart, attitude, and community. I received some Supeman shoes yesterday that remind me of that, and of 21 special people I was able to share a journey with over the last 106 days. The shoes are a reminder of what is really important.

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Can the CEO Coach? 2 Myths that get in the way

Making a transition to a senior level leader is tough. The CEO can play a key role in success, and they can also choose to stay away until it is too late. Here are two myths that get in the way of a CEO being a coach/mentor for the success of their leaders. Talent management is about great conversations – get past these myths and you can go have one.

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Questions to help the work get done (and the team to be built)

Talent management starts with what we will commit to doing and making sure we have what we need to be successful. These are also the building blocks for teamwork. Seth Godin paints a great picture of teamwork and how to get past disagreements. Here are a few more questions to help you use these to solve your disagreements and move the work/the team/your contribution forward.

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