Chapter 9
Talent

VALUE 1

One of the world’s most respected research and performance consulting groups is the global analytics firm Gallup. Founded in 1935, Gallup specializes in helping leaders and organizations solve their most pressing problems. One of Gallup’s specialties is assisting people in maximizing their potential at work and elsewhere. To better guide their clients around the world, Gallup worked diligently to clarify and define talent. What they concluded to be the uniqueness found within every human being is what they attribute as talent. This means the innate abilities you possess—to perform well, consistently, most likely from a young age—stem from your talents.

Talent Search

Throughout my years of working in character and leadership development, I have found Gallup’s definition of talent to be the most valuable. I believe you will too, and here’s why. Gallup’s definition of talent is precise and easy to remember.

Your naturally recurring patterns of thought, feeling, or behavior.1

As simple as it may appear to define talent, it can be a bit more difficult to identify what a person’s talents are. For instance, take a minute to consider how aware you are of what talents reside within you. There is a very simple reason why I’m asking you to consider your talents before asking your children, students, or mentees to cite theirs. I truly believe you should never ask someone else to do something you are not willing to do yourself. And as I believe you will soon see, identifying your talents is not as simple as you may think.

Go ahead, give it a try. Set a timer on your watch or phone for sixty seconds and think about your talents. What naturally recurring patterns of thought, feeling, or behavior make you uniquely you? Ready, set, go.

Okay, time’s up. Did you stay focused for the full sixty seconds? If, after a minute of introspection, you found yourself thinking this is tough, you’re both right and not alone. Most people find it difficult to describe themselves as “talented.” “Sure, I can see talents in other people,” we hear them say. “But when it comes to seeing the talents within myself, I’m much better at recognizing my weaknesses.”

True, knowing your weaknesses is an important aspect of self-awareness. The problem is, many people are not aware of or do not use the opposite forces in their life, their strengths. Not to turn this into a physics lesson, but to ignore how for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction only adds to one’s weaknesses. Instead, acting on your strengths helps neutralize your weaknesses and maximizes your successes. This takes some organization and coordination of your greatest potential, and it all starts with you seeing yourself as talented.

To help start your talent search, try looking at yourself through a different set of lenses. Rather than circling back around to focusing on your weaknesses or what you do poorly, look for the things you already do well. For now, try not to be highly specific—like how good you are at a particular sport, solving difficult math equations, sketching faces, or performing your job. Spoiler alert: these are not talents. Instead, try to be a bit more thematic. Ask yourself a different set of questions. Instead of considering how good you are in a sport, ask yourself, “Am I considered a competitive person?” Competitiveness is a talent. Or instead of thinking about solving difficult math equations, ask yourself, “Am I precise?” Precision is a talent not all people possess. In place of an ability to sketch faces, ask, “Am I artistic?” Being artistic is a unique talent. How well you perform your job is not your talent either. Instead, your talents influence how well you perform your job.

Try to see yourself as others see you. How would the people closest to you, and most encouraging of you, describe the way you regularly think, feel, and behave? How far back have they recognized these traits in you? Might they say you have always been a curious person? Might they describe you as persistent, even when you were very young? Would others see you as a visionary or unusually persuasive? Perhaps you are quick to display empathy or compassion. Maybe you are extremely thoughtful or naturally physically coordinated. Maybe you have always had an eye for beauty or an ear for music. People might say you were “born to” help people, build things, perform, or lead. Maybe you are seen as observant, articulate, or accurate. Such descriptions could be shining a light on your naturally recurring patterns of thought, feeling, or behavior that, when positively applied, can be transformed from raw talents into valued strengths.

Give it another try. This time give yourself more than a minute to think about your talents. On the lines below, write down what you would consider to be your natural recurring patterns of thought, feeling, or behavior that make you unique. What are your talents?

1. __________
2. __________
3. __________
4. __________
5. __________
6. __________
7. __________
8. __________
9. __________
10. __________

By identifying your naturally recurring patterns of thought, feeling, or behavior, your raw talents, you have taken the first step in the empowering process of transforming them into your valued strengths. Like any solid structure, the foundation matters. Think of your raw talents as a strong base to build your valued strengths upon. Without the foundation, you can’t build much. With a solid base, what you build from here is totally up to you. Perhaps you built from the talent of curiosity, always asking why, into a career as a forensic accountant, investigative journalist, or online reputation manager. Maybe your keen hand-eye coordination developed from a natural physical talent into a career as an orthopedic surgeon, an airline pilot, or a tower crane operator. Possibly you are that person who is always able to offer a very persuasive argument for their position. You may not always be right, but you are seldom wrong. That might have been the stepping-off point that led you to become what you are today. Be it a defense attorney, environmental activist, musician, educator, care provider, or politician. Whatever you have become in life, or will do one day, it’s best to invest in the combination of raw talents that can transform into valued strengths.

Practical Application

Now let’s take what you’ve learned by evaluating yourself through this exercise and apply it to benefit the next great generation.

Consider the value of your child, student, or mentee discovering and developing their talents now, before they track down unfulfilling career and life paths. It has been my experience that when young people see and value their naturally recurring patterns of thought, feeling, or behavior early, they feel empowered. Standing on a solid foundation of knowledge about themselves, they often approach opportunities and commitments with greater levels of self-confidence and ownership.

What talents do you see in the young people you know? Think about what they do naturally. Regularly. Remember, steer away from specifics like plays piano, pitches fast, or wins chess tournaments. Again, those are not talents. Though such high levels of performance stem from talent, “plays piano” is a strength while “artistic and musical” are talents. “Pitches fast” is a strength; “athleticism and hand-eye coordination” are talents. “Chess champion” is a strength; “strategy and patience” are talents.

As you think of your child, student, or mentee, give yourself time to consider their raw talents. Write down what you see as their natural recurring patterns of thought, feeling, or behavior that make them unique.

CONSIDER THIS:

Considered the first televised talent show, The Original Amateur Hour aired on television between 1948 and 1970. Contestants in early episodes competed for audience votes cast by postcard or telephone. Winners received a trophy and a scholarship check. A few struggling amateurs who got their start on The Original Amateur Hour included Frank Sinatra, Pat Boone, and Gladys Knight.2

YOUR TURN:

Who are the most talented young people you know and in what ways are they talented? Remember our definition of talent: “naturally recurring patterns of thought, feeling, or behavior.”

Name:	Training:
1. __________	__________
2. __________	__________
3. __________	__________
4. __________	__________
5. __________	__________