Appendix C: A Selection of Talents

“Which talents are found most frequently across all roles?”

During our research Gallup has had the opportunity to study excellence in hundreds of distinct roles. The talents needed to excel in these roles vary greatly. But in response to requests from managers, we list here the most commonly found talents with a short definition of each. You can use these definitions to guide your thinking as you decide which talents you should be selecting for.

Striving Talents

Achiever: A drive that is internal, constant, and self-imposed

Kinesthetic: A need to expend physical energy

Stamina: Capacity for physical endurance

Competition: A need to gauge your success comparatively

Desire: A need to claim significance through independence, excellence, risk, and recognition

Competence: A need for expertise or mastery

Belief: A need to orient your life around certain prevailing values

Mission: A drive to put your beliefs into action

Service: A drive to be of service to others

Ethics: A clear understanding of right and wrong that guides your actions

Vision: A drive to paint value-based word pictures about the future

Thinking Talents

Focus: An ability to set goals and to use them every day to guide actions

Discipline: A need to impose structure onto life and work

Arranger: An ability to orchestrate

Work Orientation: A need to mentally rehearse and review

Gestalt: A need to see order and accuracy

Responsibility: A need to assume personal accountability for your work

Concept: An ability to develop a framework by which to make sense of things

Performance Orientation: A need to be objective and to measure performance

Strategic Thinking: An ability to play out alternative scenarios in the future

Business Thinking: The financial application of the strategic thinking talent

Problem Solving: An ability to think things through with incomplete data

Formulation: An ability to find coherent patterns within incoherent data sets

Numerical: An affinity for numbers

Creativity: An ability to break existing configurations in favor of more effective/appealing ones

Relating Talents

Woo: A need to gain the approval of others

Empathy: An ability to identify the feelings and perspectives of others

Relator: A need to build bonds that last

Multirelator: An ability to build an extensive network of acquaintances

Interpersonal: An ability to purposely capitalize upon relationships

Individualized Perception: An awareness of and attentiveness to individual differences

Developer: A need to invest in others and to derive satisfaction in so doing

Stimulator: An ability to create enthusiasm and drama

Team: A need to build feelings of mutual support

Positivity: A need to look on the bright side

Persuasion: An ability to persuade others logically

Command: An ability to take charge

Activator: An impatience to move others to action

Courage: An ability to use emotion to overcome resistance