Nurturing the Golden Few

When you think of Manchester United, you think of high voltage soccer, but do you think of “Man U” as the people who do great Talent Management? When you think of Storm Model Agency, you think haute couture and glamorous fashion models. Do you think of them as an organization that should be benchmarked for studying Talent Management practices? When you think of the BBC, Royal College of Music or Wimbledon, the top of the mind recall is not about their ability to coach high potential talent. That is exactly what the London based specialist consulting and executive search firm Jackson Samuel did. They delved into the Talent Management Practices of eight such firms (referred to as “Enterprise Organizations” here) and tried to glean out some insights on identifying and nurturing talent.  The result was The Golden Few: Lessons in talent management from the worlds of entertainment, sport, arts and academia. This research can give pointers to what organizations need to do to manage their most talented individuals effectively. I spoke to Lesley Uren, co-founder and Chief Exec of Jackson Samuel (www.jacksonsamuel.co.uk) about her research into talent management and how organizations can leverage these ideas to manage their gifted and talented employees.[Abhijit Bhaduri]: How does talent spotting take place? Is it by one person or by a group of people? What are points of assessment? [Lesley Uren]: Spotting talent early, and making the space for it pays dividends over time.  The mindset of enterprise organisations - those that work exclusively with people who have ‘it’ - such as Manchester City Football Academy and Storm Model Management for example, are always on the lookout for talent, regardless of current needs, and will go anywhere, at any time to unearth it and accommodate it. The well built talent and resourcing processes of mainstream organizations are often fixed on a linear path – initiated when a need occurs, followed by creating a specification of the person required, and finally looking for the best person.  Talent spotting needs to be flexible enough to find space for unique talent identified at times when there is no immediate need – finding the person first, and then thinking about the need they can fill. Additionally, developing long-lasting and deep relationships with the sources of talent allows organisations to identify emerging talent early – The Royal College of Music for example has daily contact with the top music teachers in the UK, with a view to ensuring talent is identified early. Organisations need to set trends rather than follow them, and think long term about the future of their sector, spotting talent that can meet those future needs. Finally, the judgment of those who spot talent – and frequently these will include a range of full and part time scouts, often from a variety of backgrounds – should be highly respected and valued. Talent spotting is in itself a talent, talent scouts are uniquely gifted in their own right and should be given the time and space for this crucial work.  [Abhijit Bhaduri]: Besides skills (for example soccer skills, or musical talent), what else do they look for to tell them that they have a potential candidate for the "Golden Few", the rarest of the rare top talent.[Lesley Uren]: By and large there are no hard and fast rules around what makes a talented individual.  Those seeking out the Golden Few aren’t looking for perfection, but rather ‘diamonds in the rough’, and are happy to spot natural ability and nurture it. So although we may lack a formal and consistent definition of talent, there are some common characteristics that make the Golden Few stand out. Firstly, they have an innate ‘God given’ gift that is highly visible and cannot be learned by others or through training. However, being born with a gift isn’t enough on its own.  I would suggest that there are two additional key attributes.  These are ‘persistence’ – a pure determination to succeed and put success ahead of other ambitions, competitiveness, resilience and the habit of never giving up.  And ‘charisma’ – real charm, character, personality and magnetism.  The Golden Few have a dynamic approach to self-promotion and have an impact on their world. These characteristics are almost like an equation and – you need the full package to be a true ‘star’. An innate gift such as intellect, doesn’t automatically qualify an individual for status among the Golden Few.  Without the pure determination to succeed, or a sustained commitment to self promotion, you have a smart person who may well fade into the background. Great talent spotters know talent when they see it, relying on their intuition and judgement.[Abhijit Bhaduri]: How do they coach "stars"? [Lesley Uren]: In many mainstream organisations a misplaced sense of ‘fairness’ and ‘equality’ often gets in the way of truly nurturing elite talent. In contrast, enterprise organisations treat their Golden Few differently from the rest of the population because they recognise – even when it feels politically incorrect – that those at the pinnacle of their chosen profession need special attention and focus, just as much as those who are less able. They don’t shy away from the notion that it’s okay to be exceptional and that special talent requires special attention.  They accept this and nurture their talented individuals accordingly. The ‘stars’ are rare individuals and the organization needs to truly nurture them in a highly individualized, creative and hands-on way in order for them to have the space to be the transformational leaders they have the potential to become.In nurturing a ‘star’ communication is key, providing regular and honest feedback will form a major part of their development. Organisations need to ensure that they focus on the experience people need to get in order to progress, and reiterate that success is never guaranteed. Taking a genuine interest in the person, not the person in the job, is critical when you seek to engage and nurture your most talented individuals, recognising the value of pastoral care and creating a safe place for the individual to be the best they can be – an understanding many mainstream organisations have lost.  Recognising that the provision of support should come from someone other than the individual responsible for plotting progress or responsible for their destiny is important.  At Manchester City Football Academy for example, such support is provided by the kit manager - not the coach.You need to create an environment for your talent where the organization is ‘home’.  Enterprise organizations know and understand their people at a far deeper level than the vast majority of mainstream organizations – they are more ‘person-centric’ than systems or process-centric and as such have honest, open and intimate relationships with their talented people. [Abhijit Bhaduri]: How do the stars take to coaching and feedback? Does your research show that the "stars" continuously improve their game based on feedback? [Lesley Uren]: There is an innate recognition in enterprise organizations that it is the talent that truly generates the revenue and therefore needs to be developed and progressed. Enterprise organizations spend significant amounts of time and provide a lot of support to help people identify their unique selling point, assisting them to build their individual business plans to capitalise on this and pursue a number of career paths that build on them, providing career support even after individuals leave.Individuals in enterprise organisations are also encouraged to consider careers in terms of a range of scenarios, including the possibility of failure.  There is an honest recognition that all elite programs carry with them a high risk of failure, so the possibility that one might not succeed is discussed as openly as the likelihood of success.  Therefore attention is paid to visualising where the individual might be in two years’ time for example, and considering failure openly and honestly.In enterprise organizations development is about constant feedback.  They really do model the idea of giving feedback as part of the day to day, rather than as an annual event.  There are regular and honest conversations with and about the talent in real time, and action is taken to gently steer their career progress in the most rewarding direction. [Abhijit Bhaduri]: What behaviours/habits do the ‘Golden Few’ have which separates them from the next rung?[Lesley Uren]: The Golden Few are those who are gifted with more than just ‘talent’ – they have something that makes them special, and something else that drives them to the top.  As I’ve mentioned previously, it is persistence and charisma that characterise The Golden Few, but more specifically with behaviours it is also a willingness to learn and take heed of feedback which also make the Golden Few stand out.Even within elite and high-potential programmes, it is important to recognise that there are grades of ‘elite’ with not everyone being gifted with the same amount of natural ability or innate charisma.The right behaviour, a great track record of sustained performance and drive, ambition and stretch are the minimum characteristics for individuals to be considered as candidates for differentiated development within a high-potential programme. The addition of a unique gift will highlight some from that pool as ‘exceptional’.  Add in charisma and this will mark a very small number of individuals out as the Golden Few. [Abhijit Bhaduri]: Lessons for the Corporates? [Lesley Uren]: From talking with enterprise organizations that deal daily in the currency of gifts and understand what it means to be part of an elite group, we have learned how to find, nurture, develop and manage the rare few who have ‘it’.  Something most mainstream organizations fall miserably short of achieving.

1. The Golden Few are those that are more than just talented, they are uniquely gifted, captivatingly charismatic and downright driven and persistent when it comes to achieving success – you know them when you see them. Not everyone has the same amount of talent. Not everyone has a talent that will make a real difference to an organisation’s success. Those who are elite in this way need special attention – and that’s not a bad thing.
2. Taking a genuine interest in the person, not the person in the job is critical when you seek to engage and nurture your most talented individuals. But human resources doesn’t fill this role any more, and nor do line managers.
3. Talent spotting is a talent. If you want to get the best, you’ve got to hunt like the best. And that doesn’t mean plodding through your talent and recruitment processes as and when HR instructs you to. You’ve got to be looking 24/7.

You can download and read the detailed findings of the research on the Golden Few by clicking here---------About Lesley Uren: Lesley has 15 years of experience as a top level HR professional, working within blue-chip organisations like PepsiCo and Rothmans in senior leadership and management/organisational development roles. She spent four years as a senior consultant at Towers Perrin, London where she specialised in HR Strategy and Talent Management. She is the co-founder and Chief Exec of London based consulting company Jackson Samuel.Read more about Lesley and her work by clicking here