TALENT IS OVERRATED : WHAT REALLY SEPARATES WORLD CLASS PERFORMERS FROM EVERYBODY ELSE BY GEOFF CALVIN
1-Sentence-Summary: Talent Is Overrated debunks both talent and experience as the determining factors and instead makes a case for deliberate practice, intrinsic motivation and starting early. Not many books calm you down and make you excited to get going at the same time. This one does
One of the most popular Fortune articles in many years was a cover story called What It Takes to Be Great. Geoff Colvin offered new evidence that top performers in any field–from Tiger Woods and Winston Churchill to Warren Buffett and Jack Welch–are not determined by their inborn talents. Greatness doesn’t come from DNA but from practice and perseverance honed over decades.
And not just plain old hard work, like your grandmother might have advocated, but a very specific kind of work. The key is how you practice, how you analyze the results of your progress and learn from your mistakes, that enables you to achieve greatness.
Now Colvin has expanded his article with much more scientific background and real-world examples. He shows that the skills of business, negotiating deals, evaluating financial statements, and all the rest obey the principles that lead to greatness, so that anyone can get better at them with the right kind of effort. Even the hardest decisions and interactions can be systematically improved.
This new mind-set, combined with Colvin’s practical advice, will change the way you think about your job and career and will inspire you to achieve more in all you do.
And not just plain old hard work, like your grandmother might have advocated, but a very specific kind of work. The key is how you practice, how you analyze the results of your progress and learn from your mistakes, that enables you to achieve greatness.
Now Colvin has expanded his article with much more scientific background and real-world examples. He shows that the skills of business, negotiating deals, evaluating financial statements, and all the rest obey the principles that lead to greatness, so that anyone can get better at them with the right kind of effort. Even the hardest decisions and interactions can be systematically improved.
This new mind-set, combined with Colvin’s practical advice, will change the way you think about your job and career and will inspire you to achieve more in all you do.
Lessons from the Book
“People get extremely good at something because they work hard at it”.
In today’s business world the “scarce resource is no longer money, it’s human ability.”
“There’s more to life than work, and there’s more to be good at than your job”
Great performance is in our hands.
“Organisations are finding that the advantages of building a big reputation for developing people are even greater than they may have thought.”
Want to apply the principles of great performance in your organisation? Colvin would suggest you follow these rules:
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Find ways to develop leaders within their jobs.
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Encourage your leaders to be active in their communities.
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Understand the critical roles of teachers and feedback: nothing stands in the way of good, regular feedback, except corporate culture.
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Identify your high performers early: John Rice, General Electric’s vice chairman said that “Leadership capability can be evaluated on day one of employment.”
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Developing people works best through inspiration, not authority.
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Invest time, money and energy in developing people – it’s worth every bit.
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Leadership development needs to be part of the culture.
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Develop teams, not just individuals.
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Its really a noble mission. We are with you.. You are Awesome..
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