REFLECTIONS ON EXECUTIVE TALENT AND POTENTIAL

Dr. Prakash V. Bhide

“In future TALENT will be a big differentiator between companies that succeed and those that don’t. One organizational competency lasts. The ability to create a steady, self-renewing stream of leaders. Talent is the edge.” (Ram Charan – Talent Masters)

I find that there is a lot of confusion on the meaning of TALENT and POTENTIAL in organizations and even among many HR professionals. The meaning also changes with context.

It is surprising that the definition & concept of TALENT eludes description. Different thought leaders view talent in entirely different ways. Many organizations do not define what they mean by talent and use it rather loosely.  Economist (2006) reports “Companies do not even know how to define talent, let alone manage it.” Some use it to mean people like Aldous Huxleys ALPHAS in the “Brave New World”- those at the top of the ‘Bell Curve.’

Talent as a noun – is a natural aptitude, skills, a marked innate ability for a natural endowment or ability of superior quality. Other synonymous words are gifted, aptitude, ability, faculty, genius and capability leading to a consistent and far superior performance. Names of Lata Mangeshkar (singing), Sachin Tendulkar (cricket), Tiger Woods (Golf), Michael Jordan (Basket Ball) and Amitabh Bacchan (Acting) immediately come to mind.

The word ‘Talent’, in Latin, means ‘a variable unit of weight/money used in ancient Greece, Rome and Midde- East. Indian Vedas say that every person has some unique talent and potential.  

EXECUTIVE BURNOUT & PREVENTIVE ACTIONS

Dr. Prakash V. Bhide

Kiran was a Hi Potential STAR in a financial company. He was an Engineer from IIT and MBA from IIM. He had a dream successful career and was promoted as Vice President at the age of 32. His boss and company had very high expectations from Kiran. Unfortunately even with long hours of work, within a year after promotion, Kiran is a wreck and facing burnout. Why? How can he be helped?

Even though executive burnout is reported to be growing at an alarming rate, it is not talked about much. The cost of burnout both for individuals as well as organization is very large. In a survey, it is reported that the cost is $200 billion per year for Australia as a country.

The term burnout was coined by Freudenberg (1974). The term burnout is described as “a state of physical, mental and emotional exhaustion that often result from a combination of very high expectations and persistent situational stress. It describes a state of depletion of person’s resources, particularly energy due to excessive

demands made on the person as a result of which the individual becomes apathetic and impassive towards work and other aspects of life.”

Radha Sharma (2005): “Executive burnout is marked by persistent feeling of inadequacy, ambiguity, dissatisfaction and powerlessness accompanied by behavioral manifestations of apathy, indifference and physical and emotional exhaustion.”