Your #1 Source to Develop Your Talent: YOU!

It seems every day I read an article or blog regarding the American workforce readiness.  People supposedly are unprepared for work, people cannot read sufficiently, math skills are terrible, and the list rambles on.  I am hardly Methuselah, but I have been around long enough to know issues today are not new.  The issues today influence the economy and business differently, but it has not changed over the years.

Probably the single largest mistake made by business today stems from not reacting to solutions, or not recognizing solutions exist.  Without trying to write a novel, look into your own practices for solutions.  How are you managing your talent today?  How are you developing your talented people?

I learned early in my military career how to reach into my bag of “wisdom” (a.k.a. experience) and develop those talented people in my group.  I realized at some point I would be moving on.  At the point I moved on, someone should be prepared to step in.  I did not expect my replacement to duplicate my efforts, but I did expect they would move ahead.  I expected they would inject their experiences into the processes and develop talented people in the group behind them.  How should we think we evolved to today?

I am not referring to your entire workforce, although this has applications.  Let us concentrate on your talented people you consider as your replacement, your new partner, your trusted agent.  In other words, your “Mini-Me.”

Consider yourself their role model.  You are the example of what you want leading and managing your business.  The term “Mini-Me” is a stretch, but the idea is having someone you can mold into the leader/manager you are, with the vision to help those talents develop into bigger, better, and more modern leaders/managers.

Who else could better develop the talent you want than “you” could?  If you send your talent to training, should we be so foolish as to think the training group knows “you?”  Even when those people return with fresh ideas, to think “one size fits all” only causes “everyone to have fits.”

Develop from within by being the role model for which to run your business, not the competitors, not your partners, but YOU.  Your talent development will go much smoother with you as the role model.