Unlocking Talent

Unlocking talent

People are the most important asset in any business – we’ve heard it a million times but does that fact stop it from being true? Not in my opinion and still-increasing experience.

I’ve been lucky enough to share some significant milestones recently with a number of clients. When I pause to reflect on their achievements and successes, I always put the end result down to people. People, people, and people – it’s as simple as that.

The bedrock of any successful business will always be the people who tend to get overlooked and even taken for granted. They are the ones who work tirelessly, day in day out and simply get the job done without any drama or fuss.

I am fortunate to have a lot to do with people of this sort as well as the people at the “top of the tree” and I have come to know the type well. They are indisputably the ones who do the heavy lifting when a business puts in serious effort to buck trends, beat competitors and smash through demanding growth targets.

So, when business leaders review their talent pool in readiness for a big push in a new direction, I would suggest looking at everyone in the company and not just the “stars”. Where can you truly unlock talent and gain that vital competitive advantage to enable you to soar?

My answer would be you will find talent to unlock in the most unlikely of places but you may need to put if effort simply to see it.  Unassuming people don’t live their lives to showcase their talent and may not show up on your radar. You won’t know if someone is possessed of a game-changing positive attitude unless you get to know them better and ask questions to reveal what’s below the surface.

Time may be required for the true potential to reveal itself and that process needs patience, an open-minded approach and an encouraging style. These are management practices which in themselves can be difficult to pull off but which certainly will be beneficial to any business looking to improve and grow.

This kind of approach can be very liberating for both sides as the increased knowledge and awareness leads to more opportunities to exploit and experiences to share. The increase in self-confidence which comes about when someone realises what they are capable of can be significant.

So, if you’re a manager with employees, why not spread your net a little wider, look at people from a different angle and dig a little deeper. You may be surprised what talent is right under your nose and has been for years!

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