Matching natural talent to the right job breeds success

Talent!

August 27, 2009, Business Report Column "Learn To Lead'

By Jo Hazelhurst

I once had the perfect job! With perfect clients, the perfect boss and the perfect team. I was "Just Right"! I knew how to do my work and do it well.

Then, overnight, things got dark and foggy. My stress levels boiled, my performance dropped and my heart left the building. I was suddenly the "wrong" person. Not only was I no longer adding value, I'd become resistant to progress.

If you run a business, when you have the "wrong" people on board, you may wake up in the middle of the night to eat or drink copious amounts of chocolate or coffee in terror of the effect this is having on the business bottom line.

There are the costs of recruitment, advertising, lawyers, labour issues and training, as well as the loss of time for handovers, missed deadlines, intellectual property, productivity and customers, not to mention the intangible negative impact on team performance and morale. You count the rands.

You are left wondering why having employees is so hard and thinking surely it's better to just do it all yourself. Before you know it, you are no longer leading or being an entrepreneur, you're doing all kinds of work you shouldn't.

So if everything had been so right for me - what went wrong?

Something had changed. Same boss, same team, same customers, same me... but the company had grown so much my job required new roles and tasks. At first it was exciting.

My boss mentored me to become "right" for this challenge. After all, we were going places and he wanted me right alongside him.

But instead of being in my element doing what I'm best at, I was now operating within my weaknesses at least half of the time. I thought I was going crazy, but I was having what entrepreneur, educator and best-selling author Kathy Kolbe calls a "conative crisis".

Conative is our instinctive way of doing things. It is how we are most likely to act every single time. When we are doing things naturally, it is effortless.

Will power is automatic. However, when you find yourself needing to excel in areas of your weakness, you fall into an unhealthy stress mode. It is possible for an entire organisation to be in conative crisis.

I was depleted and my self-esteem took a dive. I left a great organisation.

Markus Buckingham, the author of several best-selling leadership books and an authority on employee productivity and management practices, says talent cannot be taught.

It is an instinct developed early on. However, with skill, knowledge and practice, talent can become a strength.

Since then, I've focused on my gifts.

I must sell. I run a business. Lacking the natural talents of competition, wooing, persuasion and positivity that make for great sales people, I focused on my ability to empathise with what people are going through so I can understand their needs. I then used my gift of strategic thinking to help people identify immediate solutions.

As for the rest of the things I don't do very well, so long as they don't cause damage, I don't give them much thought.

The bottom line is: you can't make people right. You can only match natural talent with the right job.

Worry less about a person's degree, skills or experience - these can be acquired.

Then, ensure they find the work meaningful. Discover your employees' values, needs and beliefs. Connect business and performance objectives to their aspirations.

Stir opportunity, desire, meaning and strengths in one pot, all focused on a common vision with clear goals - and you'll cook up excellence. People won't need to be managed.

Not only will this save time, money and energy, but also the right people doing what they're gifted to do, will ensure high performance, productivity and effective teamwork. You count the rands!

Jo Hazelhurst coaches executive, leadership and team development. Send questions to her on www.kalavati.org/contact-us.html or call her on 084 500 2292

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