Do Business Well

Drive

Many managers make a distinction between talent and drive. They often find themselves counseling someone by saying: “Look, you are very talented. But you need to apply yourself or that talent will go to waste.”

This advice sounds helpful. More than likely it is well intended. But fundamentally it is flawed. A person’s drive is not changeable. What drives him is decided by his mental filter, by the relative strength or weakness of the highways in his mind. His drives are, in fact, his striving talents. Continue Reading »

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Guided by their own beliefs, and supported by recent scientific advances, great managers can now dispel two of the most pervasive management myths.

MYTH #1: “TALENTS ARE RARE AND SPECIAL“

There is nothing very special about talent. If talents are simply recurring patterns of thought, feeling, or behavior, then talents are actually rather commonplace. Everyone has certain recurring patterns of behavior. No one can take credit for these talents. They are an accident of birth, “the clash of the chromosomes,” as the ethologist Robert Ardrey described them. However, each person can and should take credit for cultivating his unique set of talents. Continue Reading »

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Of course, none of this means that great managers ignore nonperformance. They don’t. Focus on strengths is not another name for the power of positive thinking. Bad things happen. Some people fail. Some people struggle. And even your star performers have their faults. Poor performance must be confronted head-on, if it is not to degenerate into a dangerously unproductive situation. And it must be confronted quickly—as with all degenerative diseases, procrastination in the face of poor performance is a fool’s remedy. Continue Reading »

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Why do I continue to assume that a person’s success on one rung will have any relevance to his or her likelihood to succeed on the rung above? More than likely I have been confused about what is trainable and what is not. I have made no distinction among skills, knowledge, and talents, and this clumsy language has made it easier for us to say, “If John has shown himself to be a good salesperson, then I am sure I can just train him to be a good manager.” Or, “Since Jan has proven herself a solid manager, I am confident that I can teach her the strategic thinking and the vision needed to be a great leader.” Continue Reading »

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“He was so pissed off, he looked like he was going to punch me.’You haven’t given me enough time. You got to let me have another shot.’ All that kind of stuff. But I know my people, sometimes better than they know themselves. I knew that Simon wasn’t a team person. I knew that he would never be able to build the total experience I wanted. Better to pull the trigger now, I thought, rather than letting things drag on, with him beginning to feel more invested and me getting more disappointed. Continue Reading »

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B.Value world-class performance in every role: At strong companies every role, performed at excellence, is respected. If you want to understand the culture of a company, look first to its heroes.

• Within as many roles as possible, set up different levels of achievement. Identify specific criteria for moving up from one level to the next. Reward progress with plaques, certificates, and diplomas. Take every level seriously.

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