08/31/23

In The Absence Of Talent

In addition to mentoring CEOs, I often speak to promising young persons — usually sent my way by their parents — to give them wise counsel as to how to fashion their career or to find the right career.

A good many of them have an entrepreneurial bent — so they think — and a good many of them have just left the armed forces. They are all at the starting line of their career.

I always start with one bit of wisdom: Do not be in a hurry, young person; experiment and try some different things. Continue reading

01/4/22

CEO Shoptalk – Talent Spotting, the Louisiana Maneuvers of September 1941

A good CEO is always hiring and a great CEO is always looking for talent — talent spotting.

General George C Marshall was hailed by none other than Winston Churchill as the “Architect of Victory” for the manner in which he planned and executed the decisive American involvement in the war.

The most important element of his work may have been his ability to spot and develop talent within the American general officer corps.

But, what exactly did Marshall do that was so significant as to earn that title? Continue reading

02/21/19

Scaling Talent in a Growing Startup

Today we talk about how a company scales its talent as the company grows. Can it be done? What do you need to watch for?

So, a conversation that recurs from time to time is this — the talent with which you found and initially grow a company may not be strong enough to grow the company in the mid to long term, and get to the Promised Land.

When you are a band of brothers or sisters, it is beguiling to believe that you have the right mix of people to grow the company to its ultimate size.

This is how co-founders think of themselves when they first found the company. They are killers, happy, genial killers, but still killers. Look at these sweet co-founders.

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Beguiling.

Continue reading

06/26/13

Employment and hiring process

Big Red Car here.  Nice sunny warm day here in the ATX.  It is summer, Old Sport, and it is going to be a warm one.

So The Boss was visiting with one of his CEOs and they got to chatting about the hiring process from a mechanical perspective.  The Boss loves nothing as well as a well defined and streamlined process and a process graphic.

At the end of the day, the hiring process is really a search or discovery function — finding the right person for the right job.  It is most surely a process.

Continue reading

12/18/12

Developing Talent in the Small Business (The Leadership Series)

Big Red Car here.

The Boss is still in Steamboat Springs skiing and I am still in the driveway waiting for the old boy to get home.  I am wasting a lot talent just sitting here.

Which brings me to the subject of developing talent.

Continue reading