Bench Strength

CHAPTER 2

S

ELECTING THE

K

ING

’

S

A

DVISOR

Never give a sword to a man

who can’t dance.

—C

ELTIC SAYING

Histor y is replete with kin gs who were s mart enough to make use

of skille d advisors. These individual s fulf illed a number of impor-

tant roles. Not only were they counted upon to offer sage advice

on the emerging political landscape an d the changi ng strengths

and vulnerabil ities of other cou ntries, but the king als o relied upo n

his advisor to serve as an in depen dent set of e yes an d ears for

noting and accuratel y interpreting the subt le intricacies of the

king’s court.

• Who exact ly could be trusted, and who was to be carefully

watched?

• Who, within the court , repr esent ed the king’s inter est?

• Which players were ac ting p rimar ily in their self-interest?

• How were politi cal al lianc es and sensitivit ies changin g?

• What were the deeper i mplic ation s of a rival l eader ’s mos t

recent moves?

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16 B

ENCH

S

TRENGTH

In short, the king’s a dviso r was more th an just a cou nselo r—thi s

aide also ser ve d as a guide, a voice of reason i n a divided c ourt, a

devil’s advoca te to presen t dissentin g views, and (when occasion

called for it) e ven the king ’s conscien ce.

Me et The New Advisor: The Chief Tal e nt Offic er

In the game of talent s trate gy, today’s ‘‘kings’’—our CEOs and

heads of nonprofit or ganiz ation s—hav e come to understa nd the

wisdom of emplo ying a new ‘‘advisor to the throne’’: the chief

talent officer (CTO). In most organizations this individual is repre-

sented by the senior-most leader in Human Resources, organiza-

tional effectivenes s or management development. While the title

‘‘chief talent officer’’ is some times applied to this individual, the

roleofchieftalentadvisormightalsoberepresentedbyavariety

of other titles, such as vice pres ident of ‘‘talent management,’’ ‘‘ or-

ganizational effect ivene ss,’’ or ‘‘ manage ment development .’’ The

title its elf is relat ively unimpor tan t. What is impor ta nt is that who

you select as your CTO and how you m ake us e of this per son ar e

decisions that can signifi cantl y affe ct your ability to capture, de velop ,

and retain exce ption al lea dersh ip tale nt.

If y ou think that I’m overst ating this, please keep in min d that

ten years ago, many CTOs wer e stil l relegated to the relatively in-

nocuous task of managing the after-the-fact docum entat ion o f per-

formance reviews on top-level executives. Over th e past decad e this

role has q uickl y evolved, to the p oint where today’s CTOs are com-

ing to assume th e role of strategic business partner whose deci -

sions and actio ns can have a profound ef fect b oth on the overall

strength of an o rgani zatio n’s leadership bench, and through this,

on a n organizat ion’s botto m-lin e performan ce. Conside r the fol-

lowing functio ns per forme d by today’s CTO:

• To borrow a military a nalog y, the CTO is usually called

upon to ‘‘take point’’ on talent s trate gy. Th is mea ns sta ying ahead

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