Mar 15 Are You Becoming Your Own Talent Master?
Are you talented? Of course, everyone has talent. But are you a talent master? Do you know how to maximize your talents? Are you good at spotting talent in job candidates or employees? Do you know how to inspire your team to bring all of their talents to a project?
According to the dictionary, talent is natural aptitude or skill. We all have natural aptitudes but they can either be ignored or refined. And what about skills, can’t they be learned? Absolutely, that’s why I love working with senior executives who embrace the role of talent master.
My favorite clients are the ones that leave their egos aside and embrace being an eternal learner. That’s because, in today’s evolving and competitive corporate environment, it’s not enough to be talented at your one area of expertise. If you cling to that one area, you’re in danger of stagnation both personally and professionally.
So instead of being “the best” at XYZ, if you want to get noticed, get results, and get promoted, you have to harness your natural aptitudes as you uplevel your skillset, mindset and toolset.
Let’s start with upleveling your skillsets.
Which skillsets will help you become a talent master?
Here are a few areas executives see the need for improvement because they know they profoundly impact their overall success as a leader.
- A Confident Executive Presence
- The Ability to Engage Employees to Boost Performance
- Dynamic Speaking that Exhibits Leadership
- Adept at Mining New Extraordinary Talent
Most likely you see something on this list you know you could improve on. The question is what are you going to do about it? Are you going to approach it like a talent master or just keep it on your never-ending to-do list?
What kind of mindset is required to become a talent master?
To really uplevel your leadership, speaking or team engagement skills, you need to have the mindset that you’re willing to find opportunities to stretch up that may not feel comfortable at first. Be willing to step out of that comfort zone where you excel, and learn, practice and implement new techniques. In time, you’ll become more comfortable changing those behaviors and you may see that you have a natural aptitude you never realized.
Another mindset is a bit of humility. Many of my C-Suite clients are transparent and are 100% invested in becoming better as a senior leader. They know exactly what they want to get better at doing and leave their ego at the door. There’s no room for the attitude of, “I made it to the C-Suite so I know what I’m doing,” in our sessions together.
What toolset will help you to become talent master faster?
Hiring an executive coach, who is experienced in the area you want to excel in, gets you on the fast track to mastering any new skill. According to the International Coaching Federation (ICF), 86% of organizations said they experienced a ROI on their coaching engagements. In fact, 96% who worked with an Executive Coach said they would do it again.
Why does coaching work so well? For one thing, experienced coaches have been on the road you’re on. They know what works and what doesn’t and can hand you a proven toolset to help you master those new skills. The ICF said the organizations that were wise enough to take advantage of coaching benefited from increased productivity, higher levels of employee performance, growth in revenue and sales, higher employee retention and engagement and more.
Here’s another reason coaching works, sometimes you need to hear the honest truth. The higher you rise, the less feedback you naturally receive from others, be it your CEO or Board of Directors.
My clients like getting feedback from an outside advisor. They come ready to talk about what’s working and what’s not working. When I ask them deeper questions, they begin to see how their blind spots have been holding them back. They start to connect the dots with how their behavior may be affecting others around them or impacting the organizational results.
It takes courage to really become self-aware, change your behavior and do it consistently, but the results are priceless. If you start today, you can distill and measure your improvement. You’ll see how others respond to you as you begin building collaborative relationships and influencing others naturally. And like the many senior executives in Fortune 500 firms I work with, you’ll see significant results in achieving your organization KPI’s through your newly refined leadership and communication skills.
Are you becoming a talent master by:
- Recognizing the skills you need to master that will bring about the best ROI?
- Being open to stepping out of your area of expertise to learn something new?
- Being willing to learn from an experienced coach that can demonstrate the tools for success?
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Sarah Hathorn, CEO of Hathorn Consulting Group, is the go-to-expert in working with leaders and companies to create successful corporate DNA. As an executive coach, consultant and speaker she collaborates globally with clients and brands such as Deloitte, McKesson, Kimberly-Clark, Sherwin-Williams, Home Depot and other leading organizations.
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