• In a hierarchy, every individual tends to rise to his level of incompetence - Dr. Lawrence J Peter in the book 'Peter Principle'.
• One rung doesn't necessarily lead to another - Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman in the book 'First break the rules' published by Simon & Schuster, New York, USA, 1999 • Only talent can spot another talent very quickly and easily - Madhavan T Gopalachary Very often, we come across organizations where people are promoted for good performance but later it is found that they are unfit for the new roles with more responsibilities and requiring different skill sets. This is common in SMBs where personal loyalty is more important than competence. Large and professionally managed organizations also commit such mistakes to a lesser degree. They take an approach that a known devil is better than an unknown angel. While it is partly true, it does not work in the long run when jobs become more difficult, complicated and demand a high degree of interpersonal and managerial skills. A good salesman or saleswoman will not necessarily make a good sales manager. In the IT industry, most start as programmers and get promoted as system analysts and many fail. The skills and talents required are different. A young production engineer may suddenly be elevated into the role of a techno-commercial nature but may lack the commercial, team working and interpersonal skills. A good operational manager may not be a strategic thinker and will be a misfit in strategic planning. There can be innumerable such examples in our working lives. Another common mistake many organizations commit is that they try to slot the job around the person most available. It should be the other way around. First the slot should be identified, skill sets required identified and then the person who will most fit the job should be selected and the slot filled.
Good managers look for the KSA factor - Knowledge, Skills and Attitudes. They often forget the 'T' for talent factor. We can educate and train people in knowledge, skills and to some extent change attitudes for the better. But talent is different. It cannot be taught. It is inborn. Talent needs to be sold, needs to be identified, needs to be nurtured and needs to be managed. Talent management is at its best in the sports arena. When Mr. Phil Jackson was the coach of the Chicago Bulls, he had to manage talent of some of the greatest basketball players in history. Sir Alex Ferguson manages a very talented bunch of soccer players at Manchester United. Managers in industry and business must take a leaf out of talent management in sports.
Let us understand what 'Talent' means. Talent is a unique gift of aptitude and skills in individuals. Talented people are quick to learn, adapt and change. They like challenges and are highly competitive. They keep honing their skills. They keep raising the bar for themselves. They have immense self confidence. They comeback from apparently impossible situations. They are combative and always like to win. They can spot another talent easily and quickly. In sports and games, you have Roger Federer, Tiger Woods, Michael Schumacher, Christiano Ronaldo, Ronaldinzho, Sergei Bubka, Yelena Isabieva, Sachin Tendulkar, Shane Warne, Sania Mirza etc., there are many more such highly talented athletes and sportsmen and sportswomen. Similarly, at workplace, we have highly talented individuals whose brains and reactions to various situations are very different. When the KSA factor is common, it is the individual talent that tilts the balance in someone's favor. Talented people do things differently. They do not play or work by the rule book. It doesn't mean that they do illegal things. They are very innovative and look for new ways of doing things within the existing system. It is often referred to as 'Out of the Box' or 'inside out' thinking in management jargon.
Talent spotting is an art. It is also a specific talent in some people. Talent is scarce. Managers must spend more time with talented people and understand them. Individual talent cannot be ignored. Talented people may sometimes behave erratically and have attitudinal problems. It is because of frustration. Talented people can become frustrated very quickly and lose morale. Everybody undergoes a bad patch. They have to be counseled. When promoting people, if the talent of individual is not taken into consideration, organizations will just manage to put round pegs in square holes while promoting people. Many organizations are just doing that and blithely unaware of it. As management consultants when we tell them that, you must personally see the reactions of the concerned people. Majority of managers and owners of businesses do not want to accept that they have made an error in judgment and unable to face reality. In this process, they suddenly find themselves in a position where they have to fire the person they had personally promoted. They managed to kick the individual to his levels of incompetence earlier than expected and the concerned individual is not responsible for it.
© Copyright. Written on March 4, 2008. Without prejudice. All rights reserved
Promoting People and thereby putting round pegs in square holes - To learn more about this author, visit Madhavan T Gopalachary's Website.
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Madhavan T Gopalachary
(Visit Madhavan's Website)
Madhavan Gopalachary, nick name "madgopes"
(g pronounced as in go) given by IIT
classmates, is a Mechanical Engineer and
an alumnus of Indian Institute of
Technology, Madras having passed out
specializing in IC Engines &
Thermodynamics.
He has nearly 35 years of experience in
the Corporate World. He started off as a
trainee and handled sales, marketing,
manufacturing, product management, profit
center management, strategic planning and
corporate development including R & D in
various organizations and at various
levels before becoming a CEO. His last two
professional assignments were at CEO level
before embarking to start management
consultancy business on January 01, 1998.
He has worked for British, Swedish MNCs as
well as very large Indian business houses.
He has spent a large portion of his time
from June 1998 till date in East African
Countries practicing as an independent
Management Consultant.
More details can be obtained at the
following web sites:
mmg.name/
mtg.html
mmgconsu
lting.biz/
Madhavan's articles can be accessed at www.madgopes.com
.
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