Written by: David Kegley, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
The Not-So-Common Perspective on Talent
One common assumption of public education is that everyone in the classroom needs to learn in a mostly uniform fashion, progressing from one grade to another despite difficulty or difference. Children are advanced uniformly through adolescence and adults are graduated into society functioning at optimum levels for family, civil life and the economic well-being of nations. Except you and I know that many assumptions exist here. One assumption I’d like to address is how our sense of leadership talent is cultivated.
Assumptions are made about what skill sets or talents leaders should have. Certain children are seen to have leadership potential and they are often rewarded throughout their early years. I’ve known several high school youths who were singled out as having enormous potential as leaders who hit their adult years to find that those assumptions were inaccurate. And then there were the seemingly unpromising ones, who even in their college and early adult years didn’t seem to be leadership material but emerged to show unique courage, distinct skills and inspiring leadership panache.
Could it be that the talent to be a leader is not a birthright but a skill to be honed throughout our lives? What is it about standardized education that makes it difficult to recognize the uniqueness and giftedness of different learning styles, preferences and perspectives? Might it be true that being a talented leader amounts to building on one’s own unique talents and practicing them until they serve as beacons?
Leadership as a Developmental Skill
Years ago, I was having breakfast with a group of men from a variety of professional backgrounds. One of them was a Large Animal Veterinarian. He had been a veterinarian for many years and he had a high standard for what he did. The way he described it was significant to me. He said:
My understanding of what we do is we study hard to become veterinarians and then we train with experienced vets and then we put up our own shingle. What we do then is begin a practice and that means that we practice what we do as scientists and learn about each thing we do and keep developing our skill in our field every day for the rest of our careers.
That’s a humble statement from such a distinguished professional. He practiced what he did. He saw what he did as a developmental exercise where every day was a learning experience.
Could Executives see themselves as developmental leaders?
I use the Clifton Strengths Finder to help my clients identify their talents. This begins a discussion about how their own talents can become a developmental exercise that then creates the building blocks for their style of leadership. This is not “strength” in the sense of “I’m a leader and going to bend you to my will,” something that teachers might observe in children on an elementary school playground and mislabel as leadership potential. Instead, this is one way to identify the uniqueness of individuals and a multitude of talents that, when combined, can only be expressed in unique ways in one individual. When practiced, they can be developed into an expression of leadership on an ongoing basis.
Creating a Life That Soars with Talent
If you are already in the C-suite and if you already feel you’ve made it when it comes to leadership, how could this information possibly be helpful to you? I want to ask for your indulgence for just a few more seconds. I’ve talked with a couple CEO’s just recently who had a talent and didn’t know it. Each of them was using their talent to a minimal level. In fact, they had learned throughout their distinguished lives how to utilize their respective talent to a certain degree. The catch for them was that they had no depth of understanding, no affirmation for the talent they possessed and no path for developing the talent to its full potential. What’s more, they did not know that their combination of talents had a particular make-up and that there were ways they could adjust their work with others given what their make-up was.
Each of the CEO’s I talked with reflected that overwork and being overwhelmed was present in their lives, something of the norm for people in the C-suite. Knowing your profile doesn’t automatically change your workload, but it does give you a new perspective on work-effectiveness and how to manage yourself through each workday.
Want David to be your Strengths-based coach? You can reach him at: drkegley.com or LinkedIn.
David Kegley, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Dr. Kegley specializes in coaching well-educated, progressive leaders and executives who have been stopped in their tracks due to health setbacks. His doctorate is in theology and preaching. His first 25-year career was in the Presbyterian Church U.S.A., where he was a Pastor and Head of Staff. But, after getting nearly burned out, getting diagnosed with Prostate Cancer, and going through cancer treatment, he emerged as a credentialed coach. Now he Coaches in the areas where he experienced his own humility and growth: Health and Wellness, The Cancer Journey, Burnout Recovery, and Leadership and Executive.
