Funny ideas about ‘talent’?

Managing talents is easy...

Talents of people are important in Henry Leerentveld’s work.  Henry explains his thoughts behind this:

“Actually, talents of people have almost always kept me busy.

I was 17 when I started coaching and training a team and I didn’t like the ‘bossy’, ‘one fits all’ , almost self-centred style that I saw among many of the trainers at that time. And furthermore I was extremely young, so I had to find a stimulating, less authoritative and more ‘seducing’ way to get the best out of the team.

So I tried to identify the individual qualities of the team members and in which roles/positions they performed at their best and how to relate this to ‘team-chemistry’.

Also much later,  in my professional career, managing talents became important in my approach. This is partly based on the idea that - in a professional environment - people like to do what they are best at.

If you find a way to have people use their talents, you can optimise the internal motivation of the people involved and make managing much easier.

I however was used to assume that every individual had a ‘basket of talents’: a collection of things where one’s good at..... Until this afternoon in July 2003, relaxing on the afterdeck of a yacht, enjoying the sun, when friend and colleague Koos de Vos asked me: ‘What is your talent?’ 

Basket of talents?

I prepared myself to compose and mention my ‘basket of talents’... ‘No, no, no, I don’t want to hear a collection of things; identify your unique and distinguishing talent which is the basis of what you’re good at. What is your unique talent?’ Koos replied.   I stammered: ‘Good question’ and lie awake for half the night and also in the following months I had to think a lot about the answer.

There was a concept behind this simple question: if I could find my answer I was able to interrelate all my life’s activities and integrate ‘my basket of talents’ to one. ‘The talent’ does not only explain, it is also a basis and stimulant to explore this ‘one and only talent’ and its offspring; this simplicity is powerful.

Luckily I was able to test the impact and the depth of this simple question by posing it to other people; also for them it was not a piece of cake, but it appeared to be a source for ‘justified self-enrichment’.

After rigorous cuts in my ‘talent collection’, eventually one professional talent remained: strategic development. I then tried to identify where this talent relates to other aspects of my personality. 

Getting personal

Talent and preference for strategic development can partly be determined referring to my youth experiences, in which I had learned to deal early with identifying, considering and deciding upon options and their different consequences, in situations appealing to (the development of) diplomatic and communication skills.

Strategic development in high-impact situations with less emotions becomes simply fun after this ‘initialisation’. This background also explains why I professionally enjoy negotiating.

However, my talent for strategic development relates also to other aspects in my personality. For instance, in playing football I’m strong in ball-circulation and splitting distant passing, in table tennis I’m used to always analyse my opponent.

Those broader ‘intra-personal’ connections are actually not only applicable on talents, they can also be identified in approach. Technical abilities and - control is not only important for me in football or table tennis, technical excellence - in terms of research and presentation - is also important in my work.  In table tennis I am an all-rounder, in my work I am a generalist. I love attractive offensive football, attacking is my preferred style in table tennis, the same applies in work.

These ‘discoveries’ have strengthened me to put focus on (exploring) my talents in my work.”