Talent Versus Skill

Hi Guys. Not a very sexy topic today, but a relevant and valuable discussion for most of us nonetheless. I hope your weekend was fun and I also hope you found some time to send a few dollars to our friends in Haiti. If you’ve been feeling a little bit sorry for yourself lately just take a peek at some of the footage coming out of that devastated country and you might find some perspective. I have. Problems are all relative aren’t they? What we (often) call hardship, some people would call heaven.

On with the show…

Success or Failure

Have you ever wondered what it is that determines success or failure? Success in sport? In business? At school? In negotiating a deal? In losing weight? Or better still, keeping weight off? In leading a team? Resolving conflict? Solving a  problem? Becoming a successful singer? Artist? Pilot? Inventor? Business owner? Parent? Writer? Entrepreneur? Speaker? 

While there’s no simple (or single) answer to that question - being as there are many variables - without doubt, two of the most important ingredients in the success recipe are talent and skill. One is totally out of our control, in that it’s in-built, fixed and we’ll never have any more or less of it. It is what it is. The other is completely subject to our choices, mindset and subsequent behaviours. That is, we have the ability and the opportunity to develop it – often beyond a level we would have believed possible – if we’re prepared to do what it takes to get there. Wherever there is. 

Here’s what we know:

Average Ability + Method + Work + Courage = skill development, improved performance and greater likelihood of success.

Above Average Ability (Gifted) + Laziness + Poor Attitude + Fear = frustration, poor performance, wasted potential and little chance of success.

Talent is Only the Starting Point

If you need a brilliant and inspirational example of how skill can be developed with unbelievable work ethic, passionate commitment, fierce determination and just a little courage , take a trip to see Cirque du Soleil some time. Now that is some serious skill – which is the result of some serious work. Over a long period of time. Sure they’re talented individuals, but not one of those performers would be on stage if they had not spent years (and years) acquiring, developing, refining and further refining their skills. Talent is only the starting point. With all endeavors.

By itself, talent will get us nowhere.

Vroom, Vroom….

Imagine that your talent is a Ferrari. It is powerful. Attractive. Exciting. It has enormous untapped potential. And best of all, it’s right there at your fingertips. You just need to turn the key and drive it. It can take you where other cars can’t. It can take you on the trip of a lifetime. It can give you overwhelming joy, pleasure and excitement. It can also scare the shit out of you. Metaphorically. I hope. If only you’d take it out of the garage to see what it can do.

It’s true, many of us are so petrified of crashing the car, hurting ourselves and/or looking stupid that we never even engage first gear; let-alone take that bad boy out of the garage to explore its considerable potential. And while we’re parked in neutral and drooling on the dashboard, our Hyundai-driving friends with far less power and potential at their disposal are exploring the outer-reaches of their… er… car. That is, developing some amazing (and life-changing) skills by using more of what they’ve got. While we’re looking at the four walls of our stupid garage and smelling the Italian leather, they’re out covering massive ground, doing what most won’t do and turning their dreams into reality. Their car doesn’t have nearly the potential of our car, but they’re using every ounce of what it has. And then some. Who knew a Hyundai could do that? Yowzer.

Consciously Developing Skills

Depending on our life-goals, we will need a little (or perhaps a lot, depending on the goal) of each - talent and skill – in order to be able to create the kind of results we want to see in our world. While most of us come to sites like this because we want to produce better results and live our best lives, the reality is that many of us don’t methodically and consciously work towards developing and improving the relevant and necessary transformational skills. We simply get out of bed and do what we did yesterday, last week, last month and last year. We do the same. Talk the same. Choose the same. Think the same. React the same. And then we wonder why we live in Groundhog Day. If our goal is constant improvement and consistently better results, then skill development should be a conscious, methodical, intentional and consistent part of our overall transformation strategy.

The Skill of Communication

Take communication for example: without doubt, it is the most important interpersonal skill. It can make or break careers, businesses, negotiations, marriages, friendships, families, all kinds of relationships and even governments, yet how many of us consciously work to become more effective, skilled and empowered communicators? Almost none – that’s how many. While some people are naturally gifted communicators, it’s a skill we all need and a skill we can (and should) all develop methodically. I’m amazed at how many people in positions of influence, responsibility and even leadership (which is most of us, by the way) are constantly shooting themselves (and others) in the foot courtesy of their inability to create meaningful and productive communication and connection with others.

Talent

Some people are truly gifted and their considerable talent is apparent from an early age. Evidence of such precocious and prodigious talent can be witnessed before some children can even hold a meaningful conversation. Sadly, my only early talent was for locating and consuming food. I was indeed resourceful  – at the finding - and prolific – at the consuming. It’s fair to say I was something of a caloric prodigy. Some might say a human Golden Retriever. Woof, woof. Whether their inbuilt and obvious talent (back to the child prodigies now) will eventually translate to success will be determined by (1) their ability to maximise that potential and (2) their ability to develop the relevant skills to complement their inherent gift.  

Wasting or Maximising?

One of the key questions for this discussion is not “how much ability do I have” but rather, “how much of that ability will I use?”. We all know very talented people who have spent years finding new and creative ways to waste their talent. We also know people who have not been blessed with vast amounts of natural ability yet have constantly found a way to squeeze every ounce out of what they’ve been born with – while simultaneously developing their skills to a level that sees them consistently producing incredible results.

The Not-Very-Talented Me

Here’s a short list of the some of what keeps me busy at the moment (in my professional life): blogging (this site), media (TV, radio), writing (books, magazines) professional speaking (corporate, health clubs, teams, conferences, public workshops), performance coaching (teams and individuals), physical conditioning (teams and individuals), business management and development (my own gym, other opportunities). 

While I work, and have worked, with many talented and gifted individuals over the last twenty-eight years (yep, I’m that old), it’s fair and honest to say I’m not a particularly talented person. I know some people might not believe that, but it’s true. However, I am driven, I do work hard, I do ask better questions (than many), I am resilient (by choice), I will acknowledge and develop my (numerous) flaws, I am prepared to keep learning and while most are finding an excuse, I will find a way.

Probably the only real talent that I demonstrated from a relatively young age (apart from my gift for eating, of course) was communication. While I’ve subsequently become reasonably skilled and proficient in several areas, my development has always been the result of my conscious and focused efforts to acquire the required skills in those areas. Take a peek at the following necessary-for-my-life skills that I have consciously developed over the last few decades (and will continue to develop into the future). Next to each skill I have put two figures which denote how much of my current level of proficiency in that area is – what I perceive to be - the result of either (1) natural talent or (2) conscious and strategic skill development. The figures will add up to one hundred (percent) and I will use ‘S’ and ‘T’ to denote skill and talent.

• Communication: T 60, S 40 – “Communication” is a pretty general term and a multi-faceted beast. It’s something I still work at every day.
• Business Management and Development: T 20, S 80 – It’s fair to say I was a very ordinary (read, terrible) business man for the first decade.
• Leadership: T 40, S 60 – While I have some (modest) talent in this area, I didn’t become a decent leader until I committed to do the necessary work.
• Managing Staff: T 30, S 70 – Years of making mistakes was good training in this area. Apologies to my employees.
• Conflict Resolution: T 15, S 85 – Believe it or not, I was once a chronic people pleaser. Apparently I can’t keep everyone in the world happy. Who knew?
• Finances: T 20, S 80 – The only financial ‘skill’ I had when I started my company was to waste obscene amounts of money… on nothing in particular.
• Writing: T 30, S 70 – You think my writing is crap now… you should have seen it a decade ago!
• Negotiation: T 20, S 80 – People pleasers are not good negotiators. Still a work in progress for me.
• Decision Making: T 20, S 80 – In my early days I was a world champion at not making significant (and necessary) decisions. Thankfully, I’ve changed.

The Last Bit

While my reality and experience is not necessarily representative of anyone else, my journey has provided me with the incredible opportunity to work with, and observe, thousands of amazing people all striving to improve their world in some way. Of course it’s impossible to quantify the answer to the ’Talent Versus Skill’ question but I think it’s fair to say that as a rule, talent might open the door, but only skill will take us to our desired destination.

As always, love your thoughts on this topic.

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