
CHAPTER 1
T
ALENT
S
TRATEGY
The Key to Organizational Effectiveness
Strategy without tactics is the slowest
route to victory. Tactics without strategy
is the noise before defeat.
—S
UN
T
ZU
,C
HINESE MILITARY STRATEGIST
CEOs and senior execu tives are qu ickly coming to the conc lusio n
that a dis tingu ishing char acter istic of successf ul org aniza tions is
the ability to identify, develop, and deploy excep tiona l lead ershi p
talent. Research such as the 1997 McKinsey study, The War for
Talent, and McKinsey ’s 2000 foll ow-up study have m ade bu sines s
managers and HR leaders aware of t he signific ant ga ps tha t exis t
between t heir t alent management