How to Identify a Talent's Potential

Discussions Include:

• What to look for when hiring a new talent.
• How companies / businesses collaborate with their talents.
• The importance of a talent's participation in problem solving.
• Do not underestimate that person outside your industry circle.
• Inspiration: "Talent Is  Never Enough",  book by John Maxwell.

The Hangout:

Creative Chat Cafe episodes now have a Table of Contents!

Not enough time on your hands? Check out the video's TOC (table of contents) below to look for specific topics discussed during the show (note - clickable TOC's are only available in the "About" section of the video on YouTube and viewable on desktop only): 

Table of contents (TOC - show timeline):
0:00:20 - Greetings & introduction.
0:02:04 - What's in this show?
0:03:52 - Intro: Super Julie of SuperInterns.com
0:05:09 - Intro:  Rich DiGirolamo of RecessAtWorkDay.com
0:06:13 - Changing times, competitive talent market.
0:07:36 - What to look for when hiring a new talent.
0:09:07 - How companies / businesses collaborate with their talents.
0:13:52 - "Don't judge a book by it's cover."
0:14:37 - The importance of a talent's participation in problem solving.
0:16:04 - You've got to give it a shot!
0:17:15 - How companies like Google work and play. 
0:18:47 - Do not underestimate that person outside your industry circle. 
0:20:39 - Tips
0:21:03 - Julie's tips: Sharing your visions and goals.
0:24:05 - Zef's tips: Evaluate your team often.
0:26:35 - Tips from Rich: Start with the personnel files!
0:27:27 - More tips from  Rich: Invite new people to your meetings!
0:29:23 - Adding more layers to what you can do!
0:30:31 - Inspiration: "Talent Is  Never Enough",  book by John Maxwell.
0:31:16 - The "know it alls" ...
0:37:12 - Where and when to watch CCC.
0:38:42 - Let's connect!

View the clickable TOC's on YouTube here (desktop only)!

The Conversation:

ZEF: Companies, businesses, and recruiters are changing the way they hire. The talent market is getting very competitive and tighter by the day. These days, potential of a talent speaks louder, when compared to whether the talent is "competent" for the position or job. What makes someone successful in a particular role today might not be tomorrow if the competitive environment shifts, for example, if the company's strategy changes, or if talents must collaborate with or manage a different group of colleagues. The ability to adapt to an ever-changing business environment and grow into new roles is very important!

Julie, this is your expertise since one of your roles at SuperInterns is not only to seek potential talents, but also to help them in their career development. What do you look for in hiring new talent? What's important to you and your business?

SUPER JULIE: Besides fit, problem-solving skills. In fact, we don't answer peoples' questions at SuperInterns.com; instead, we ask them questions to lead us to the answers. At any given time, we can be asked a question to a problem. We may or may not know the answer. We always wait for the team member to chime in with their idea, and if they don't, we ask them, "What do you think you should do?" The question is not answering them, it is asking them what they should do. We are getting our interns immediately into problem-solving skills. Often, we will hear, "I don't know," and we will start asking, "Where could you find the answer?" We ask that people research and become the experts so we aren't having to teach them everything - because we don't want to or need to know what they need to know.

ZEF: Rich, you work with individuals and groups to help them expand their minds and hear some new ideas about how to get excited about work/business once again. It sounds very refreshing to me and, if my intuition is correct, I suspect that there may be some kind of bringing your "party mindset" (in a very good way) to everything that we do - work, business, and life - am I correct?

And if yes, let me ask you this, "Why does IT only invite IT to the party," and how important is this to help identify a talent's potential?

RICH: Okay, this is not about IT but it's about how we don't tap into talent that's available throughout an organization. Meetings tend to be held by teams of similar people. Why doesn't IT invite accounting to brainstorming sessions? Why doesn't customer service ask finance to lend their ideas to the next wave of the customer experience? There are so many ideas sitting with the receptionist, telephone operator, maintenance person, data-entry people, executives, mid-level managers, etc. Why not get more opinions to see the different types of expertise and opinions that may be available.

Join us in our Google + community for more post-show conversations!

Your Hosts:

SUPER JULIE BRAUN
SuperInterns.com

"Super Julie Braun is the Co-founder of SuperInterns.com and she has worked with hundreds of employers and schools, and thousands of virtual interns all across the country.  As a thought leader in working virtually, Super Julie has helped companies and organization transform their “brick and mortar” thinking to “online” thinking and having the opportunity to work any time and from any place in the world with interns."

RICH DIGIROLAMO
RecessAtWorkDay.com

"Rich DiGiloramo is the founder of Recess at Work Day, the Superhero and Chief Cook & Bottle Washer at DoubleDDiner.org and Nasal Decongestant for Stuffy Meetings. He shows organizations that having fun at work and being a fun place to work are very different - one impacts the bottom line."

Tips & Solutions:

ZEF'S TIPS:

I focus on two important elements, though there are many others, in helping me identify a team member's potential (for SOAR):

• Curiosity - seeking new experiences and knowledge, and openness to learning and change
• Engagement - using emotion and logic to communicate a persuasive vision and connect with people

I recently found out from a member of our SOAR team that there are collegiate honor societies that have mottos about devotions to learning, one example is "let the love of learning rule humanity." What's important in examining the potential of a talent is to find out the value that they gained from their experiences in previous organizations and how they upheld the motto or goal of the organization through their actions involved.

SUPER JULIE'S TIPS:

Share your vision + goals - If you have a process of interviewing people and bringing them on-board, there are many things that need to be gone over from the beginning so that they are in the right mind-frame. They need to understand and value your vision and goals. If they do, then many of the next steps will start to fall into place, like being passionate about your company, curious about what impact they will have, and how to get there. If your team knows what your company goals are, they can get behind them and create the vision you have. If your team is just doing a job because they are getting paid, well, you will be very hard pressed to find driven and passion-filled people. When they understand more about the future, they will become more curious as to what their contribution can be. It's like a stream that runs into a river, everyone beings getting caught up and going in a similar direction to get there.

RICH'S TIPS:

• Invite different people to meetings/brainstorming sessions
• Bring fewer "experts" and more common folk
• Don't be afraid to give an accountant a marketing job
• Operate from "we hired a personality not a person's skills"

Inspiration:

A summary of the book, Talent is Never Enough, by John C. Maxwell can be found here.

ZEF: Why do you think it makes it more difficult to expand their talents if they continue with the attitude of 'I know it all?'

SUPER JULIE: Does anyone really know it all? I don't. Aren't we more interested in people who are interested in learning and growing? Those who "know it all" may be quick, but they aren't very bright because in a year or less, something better, smarter, or faster will be developed and they will be left in the dust. Lifetime learners are people you want to find for your team! That will cure your team of the "know it alls."

RICH: Here's a pretty simple rule: If you don't think there is an opportunity to learn something every single day, you don't belong on anyone's team but your own. Let's see how relevant that keeps you.