Talent Upgrade

I have worked in some very aggressive corporations in which talent upgrade was a constant theme. Almost to a fault in some regards as the bottom 10% was constantly forced out of the organization or into a different role. However in some companies today this is not the case. There is nothing worse for a young aggressive talented person to join a corporation that is built upon tenure.

I have worked with some extremely talented people in my career. These are the people that if I were starting my own business I would want them on my team regardless of the business venture. In my opinion successful people are successful regardless of the task at hand. However when developing talent especially at the management level the manager demographic should mirror the employee population. For example if the organization is built with a sales force under the age of 30 does it make sense to have some one leading that group who is 50? I would argue there is little in common and the relationship might struggle. The same goes for all forms of demographics. Once you have found talent you will find it is colorless and does not have gender as anyone can be successful.

Talent upgrade does not come easy and there are a couple questions you need to think of:

• How are they performing today vs their potential?
• How do they fit into the business plans for the future?

If either of these questions have negative responses it is likely this is an area to upgrade the talent at this position. If you want to grow as a leader you have to surround yourself with talented people. If you decided not to make these tough decisions it is likely you might fit into one of the 2 questions above.