Strategic

CHAPTER 11Talent and Succession

“My main job was developing talent. I was a gardener providing water and other nourishment to our top 750 people. Of course, I had to pull out some weeds, too.”

—Jack Welch, former CEO, GE

Unless you are an organization of one, your success will depend on the people around you. The ability to assess, develop, and manage talent can make or break a leader's tenure. Shantanu Narayan, CEO of Adobe, describes his approach to talent management this way: “Every year I try and say: What are one or two big areas where it feels like I can have an impact and I can influence where the organization should be headed both in terms of learning from the talent that exists within the company and outside the company? And then, having the ability to use that to change priorities. I think way too often people do what they're good at, rather than perhaps where the company wants them to make an impact.”¹

The kaleidoscope of personalities and perceptions viewed through the subjectivity of the human lens make talent challenging to harness. However, there are tools and frameworks you can employ to shed a spotlight on the “who” of your business. Developing an evergreen awareness of how your key people are performing on their priorities is of paramount importance.

Talent Scorecard

A tool I designed called the Talent Scorecard is a simple yet effective means of assessing the people around you in leadership roles. There are three focal areas to consider:

1. Technical capability: ...