Devoted to Managers and those that seek to improve their management skills

One of the great misconceptions about "talent" in the workplace is its connection to being a superstar or genius. Great managers understand that this isn't what makes talent at all. As a matter of fact, when someone thinks of himself as a superstar, or other workers make them think that way, they are usually anything but that.

Using an excerpt from the book "Break All the Rules" one article says:

"Normally we associate talent only with celebrated excellence -- with a strong emphasis on the word "celebrated." We look at Michael Jordan, swaying and knifing his way to the basket, and we know that neither his training nor his dogged determination are the prime source of his brilliance. He may have both of these, but, then, so do most other NBA players.

"Alone, these cannot explain why Michael shines. Deep down we know that his secret weapon is his talent. We look at Robert De Niro and we think the same: he has talent. Tiger Woods, Jay Leno, Maya Angelou, they are all part of the talent club. They are blessed with a secret gift. For most of us, talent seems a rare and precious thing, bestowed on special, far-away people. They are different, these people with talent. They are 'not us.'"

The effective managers understand that this isn't really what makes up what we call talent. This type of person only comes along once in a while. A lot of business leaders unfortunately aren't really looking for talent; they are looking for what they think of as "superstars."

We understand that for us lesser mortals, there are other important qualities that really define talent in a person. 

Real talent is who a person is. Now getting past having a great attitude, which to me is the highest talent there is, you must then get into what a person can do.

What is it you see a person do over and over again? What can be identified as a pattern? True talent is something that is discovered in someone that they can apply to their job responsibilities.

I know for some people that like to debate about genius, and we've done that here before, this may seem trivial ... but for a management team looking to build a super workforce, this is essential.

When we think of great employees, what we've really discovered is that thing that they are, and are able to repeat over and over again while loving doing it. This is one of the aspects of true talent that quality people with good attitude can offer a company.