DDI’s Talent Management Intelligence

Mistaking Performance for Potential (They Rue LaRue)

By Mike Hoban

Tonight, a highly publicized annual talent management event will take place: the National Basketball Association’s (NBA) player draft. Millions of dollars and thousands of hours have been spent to identify the collegiate players with the ability to play at the next level up. Martin LaRue certainly fit that bill in 1972.

The case of Mr. LaRue is instructive not only for the world of sports but for the world of talent management in business and it has to do with distinguishing between performance and potential. He was a “can’t miss” collegiate star, a reputation which helped make him the very first pick in the 1972 professional basketball draft – he was the best of the best.  Because of his outstanding performance at the college level, many professional talent scouts extrapolated and they saw ‘high potential.’

Well, Mr. LaRue’s performance in the NBA was underwhelming at best and he left the league after just four seasons. Despite the stacks of scouting reports, the many game tapes of his performance and all of the hoopla about this hoopster, his perceived trajectory never materialized. Apparently, he didn’t have the “right stuff” for the next level after all, earning him the distinction of being called the “worst #1 draft pick in NBA history” by one sports web site.

Hmm…  Does this sound familiar in the business world?  Perhaps an excellent mid-level leader is promoted to an executive position only to struggle and ultimately fail at that next level up?  It happens a lot and underscores that performance and potential are not the same thing. 

Professional sports talent scouts - people who do that for a living – got it wrong, despite their insights and their analyses. Perhaps they were so dazzled by the star power of LaRue’s performance they misjudged his potential to take his game to the next level. Executives and their HR talent scouts have to be vigilant they don’t fall into the same trap and need to use different yardsticks to distinguish between performance and potential. 

While accurately identifying potential is still an inexact science, the business world has developed better processes that are yielding more reliable results. Will tonight’s draft reveal any new ways to spot potential in the world of pro sports?

Mike Hoban is a senior consultant for Development Dimensions International (DDI).

Social Networkers Anonymous

By Bradford Thomas

Is there such a thing as being too plugged into the world?

On a typical work day I receive about 90 e-mails.  It’s my own fault because I have become addicted to signing up for breaking news alerts, RSS feeds, and—my particular weakness—LinkedIn user groups.  I monitor every topic under the sun from recruiting to sales talent management to the business environment in China.

Based upon the multitude of e-newsletters and Linked-In discussions around Social Networking in HR, I suspect I am not alone.  Witness this sampling of headlines from the past few weeks:

• “Social Networking: The Future of your Recruitment Strategy”
• “Tweeting Job Posts”
• “Using LinkedIn to Maximize Recruiting Efforts: A Step-by-Step Guide”

It doesn’t just stop with the media pushing us to catch up with the rest of the HR world.  We do it to ourselves. 

I can’t tell you the number of postings like this from recruiters in my LinkedIn Group discussion threads:  “Hello, I’m an open networker with close to 10k first level connections and I am looking to expand my network. Please send me an invite and I will accept it!”  Talk about using LinkedIn as your own personal Applicant Tracking System.

Am I the only one to read these postings and feel inadequate about only having 117 connections—even if those connections link me directly to over 1,960,400 professionals?

But is there any real value for recruiters to collect connections—other than bragging about the size of your network at parties?

Is social networking for recruiting working to your advantage? Read more on the topic and let me know what you think.

Bradford Thomas is a Manager at Development Dimensions International.

Good Leadership . . . Always in Style

By Rich Wellins, Ph.D.

Well, I now have read my 40th white paper, monograph, research bulletin on leading during the “tough times”. I even wrote a few myself. Let’s be relevant! Let’s really talk about what is unique to leading now.

I have become a skeptic. Below are a few tips from a senior talent management professional in one of the 10 largest companies in the world. As you read through the statements, ask yourself is the tip “relevant” today.

• “Tell my team I am confident in their ability to succeed.”
• “Explain how work contributes to the broader strategy.”
• “Celebrate progress.”
• “Be highly visible.”
• “Encourage team members to surface their ideas.”

And, best of all:

• “Exercise, sleep and eat healthy.”

Of course every statement is relevant. All matter during these challenging times. Now, do me a quick favor. Go back to the list and ask yourself if every one of these tips applied 2-3 year ago, during periods of growth and stability.

My answer, every one matters as much yesterday as well as it does today. Good leadership, in this case, seems to be the same. What is really different about leadership today? I have many of my own thoughts but I’d like to hear yours first. And, if we all come back to this blog some day in the near (I hope future) when things are turning around, let’s not forget the tips above.  And, let’s not write yet another set of drivel about leading in an upturn!

Rich Wellins is senior vice president at Development Dimensions International (DDI).

An Accidental Leadership Crucible

By Bruce Watt, Ph.D.

In the last few weeks, I had three particularly exhausting coaching sessions. It wasn’t about the individuals or the process, but instead the intense and urgent issues that each leader brought to the table.

These leaders manage sizable operations in the Asia-Pacific region and are confronting serious threats to the viability of their businesses caused by the ongoing global financial crisis. They had the technical skills, experience and knowledge to do what was needed, but were seriously challenged by the inefficiencies and distractions that were impeding the success of their actions. In short, each were derailing in different ways (micromanaging, being indecisive, alienating others) but for the same reason—not successfully intervening in their own derailing tendencies.

As leaders, it’s a common experience for our reputations to be earned not necessarily by what we do day-to-day but rather by those critical things that might happen under pressure (I call this the one-day-in-a-hundred effect). This is because of the heightened visibility of our actions under stress and a tendency for “the darker side” of our characters to manifest. Today’s uncertainty is chronically stressful and is a Petri dish for leadership derailers.

So while I was exhausted at the end of these coaching sessions, it was intensely rewarding working through leadership development in the “heat-of-battle”. Successful leadership is not incidental; it must be practiced constantly under all conditions. Despite its savage and painful impact, I predict that history will document that the global financial crisis created a learning “crucible” that produced a generation of great leaders who will make the planet a much better place than it was before.

Bruce Watt is the Managing Director of DDI Australia.

Great opportunity, or an offer you can’t refuse?

By Matt Paese, Ph.D.

“None of us signed up for this.”  That’s what a member of the high potential pool of a large global corporation said to me last week. 

Let’s call him Tim.  Tim is a sales superstar with a phenomenal track record.  People love working with this guy. He talks straight, transforms complicated problems into action plans, and makes hard work rewarding. 

Tim’s had his share of chances to be promoted, but he likes what he does. He doesn’t see the corner office as his destination. 

But the company has a leadership shortage, and they need people like Tim to step up.  So, they asked him to do just that.  Actually, they sort of asked him.      

“This is a good development opportunity for you.... You really need to do this.”  That was the “invitation” from Tim’s boss to join a group of a few dozen high performing leaders, and participate in special development opportunities that would accelerate his growth, and position him to possibly take on a big executive job down the road. A clear business need for the company, and a great career opportunity for Tim.

But Tim was hesitant about the proposition, and that sentiment was echoed by others In the orientation meeting to kick off the initiative, a latecomer (by 5 minutes) was publicly berated as being uncommitted to the company. Whoa. Suddenly this doesn’t sound so much like an opportunity. 

Okay I know what you are thinking: Tim never should have been invited in the first place, and this organization’s process is broken. Maybe so. Probably so. But there’s more.

I asked Tim if he would be interested in accelerated development under any circumstances. He said he would “if they were really serious about involving me in the real business issues”. Turns out Tim is more interested than we might have thought. But his engagement doesn’t have to do with the job he might get, it’s about being a part of the solution. It’s about having impact.

Accelerated development isn’t a one-way street. It isn’t something you wrap up and “give” to someone, particularly when that someone has a track record of success. Accelerated development is something that executives and high potential leaders do together. Growing a cadre of emerging leaders means building a community whose purpose is to solve the most pressing business problems at hand. Everyone learns. Everyone steps up. We grow together.

Are you building a learning community, or making offers that your potential leaders can’t refuse?

Matt Paese is the Vice President of Executive Solutions for  Development Dimensions International (DDI).