Talent management is not about training, it is about awareness, individual ownership, and an ongoing partnership between leaders and followers to get better. I joined an HBR study on happiness and here is some reflections on what I have learned.
Talent management is about great conversations. In order for it to work, an individual needs to bring an awareness of who they are so decisions made can reflect the needs of the team, the individual, and the organization. Assessments are helpful in giving the talent (people) in your organization a baseline of information to build that self awareness. Here is my opinion of how those assessments stack up.
Assessments in talent management – whether it is selection, high potential development, career development, leadership development, or any of the other pieces – is important. Here are 4 traps and a truth around using asssessments so you can make a good buy instead of being sold something that will not work.
Career development planning is about choices. It is about thinking about what we want to be doing in the future, and preparing ourselves to meet a goal for prepare ourselves for a different path. At the heart of talent management is preparing the individual to bring an awareness of self to this conversation and helping the leader listen, guide, direct, challenge, and ultimately partner. Talent management is about great conversations, and at the heart of those conversations is ultimately a choice.
What are you most proud of. Talent management and leadership is about understanding people and engaging them in the process and problems of running an organization. Of getting work done. Here is a question to renew energy and share what matters to them.
The #1 question to ask in any talent management process, and probably the most difficult to answer. Great Leadership / Followership starts with a clear target, and this is it.
Steve Jobs is an interesting person, and his biography by Walter Isaacson is a great read at many levels. Here is a brief view of that book and 3 things I take away. Leadership development, talent management, self awareness through failure – it is all there.
Small words that have a big impact – BUT / AND. A cornerstone of leadership development is communication, which is part what we say and part getting people to listen. Talent Management is about conversations that happen and are healthy exchanges. One of these words sets a healthy tone for an exchange, and the other too often shuts it down.
Professional development and talent management is often focused on the skills we need at work. Many of those same skills apply to our lifes/roles outside of work. I was reminded of that recently when I went to a parenting seminar and learned something that most leaders need to know – managing conflict and teaching your children to do it well.
Leaders need to understand non-verbals, and they need to be comfortable and competent in using that information to have a richer conversation. The Birkman method is one reminder/tool I use to help leaders see that what is happening on the outside is not necessarily what is happening on the inside.
David C. Baker wrote a book to help new managers be successful. In it he shares lots of very practical advice for leading well and learning as you go. Leadership development and talent management (leveraging/developing your people) are part of being a leader, and this book does a nice job showing the practical steps of how a new manager can do it well. Here is my interview with the author and some reflections on the book.
What should 2012 look like for leaders? If you were going to do one thing that impacts the engagement and energy they have for their work, what would it be? Here are three ideas for helping your people see work differently and get more excited about it (aka: talent management / employee engagement)