Regardless of the discipline – business, the arts, sports – talent jumps off the page. If you are paying attention you will see it immediately.
A couple of years ago I sat on a panel at a leadership conference. During the Q and A session, a young lady asked all of the folks on the panel to provide their most important piece of advice for the young group of aspiring leaders in the audience.
As I thought about the question, I kept circling back to the people that influenced me over the course of my life. They were responsible for my development – they formed me. Interestingly, not all of them were from my career discipline. And, for the most part, they were still a part of my life, in some instances, up to 30 years later.
So, I shared with the group that the best advice I could give them was to chase talent. I didn’t realize it until that moment, but this is what I had done for over 30 years.
When you encounter talented people, stalk them – find a way to connect them to your personal development. In some instance these people will be teachers, coaches or business mentors that landed in your lap and will spend extensive time with you. In others, you may meet them in a fleeting moment. Young (or old) future leaders always have their radar on in the search for these people. If you are truly committed to your personal development you must stay connected or make an effort to engage in order to squeeze as much intelligence and guidance from them as is reasonably possible.
My best example of this is meeting Dr. Ian Angell from the London School of Economics during my time with UK Sport. I was looking for an individual who had a radical view on leadership. Dr. Angell is a world renowned expert on the impact that information systems have on social, economic and organizational systems. He was the perfect person for the task but we couldn’t make schedules work. However, I leaned on him after the fact for advice and guidance as we prepared for the Olympics and read his book: No More Leaning On Lamp-Posts. The book made me think differently and impacts me to this day. Just recently I touched base with him and know that if I needed some advice Dr. Angell would come through, all due to an exchange almost a decade ago.
And my experience is that the vast majority of the talent you stalk will willingly engage in your development and expect that you will lean on them throughout your journey. They do this because they understand that true greatness is developed, in large part, by the intimate sharing of knowledge between those with experience and aspiring future leaders.
Keep the following in mind when chasing talent.
- Diversify!!! Connecting with talented people in other disciplines is invaluable.
- Pick one skill you would like to develop and search out two or three skilled experts in that area. Ask them for time and if you hit it off continue to stalk them!!
- Say thank you. Take a moment every few years to formally say thank you to all those talented individuals who are responsible for your success. You’ll feel great and ensure that those around you understand how much you appreciate them.
Start chasing!!!
