Talent

Given that my professional life has had much to with this topic, I have been thinking of penning down my thoughts on how I view talent and what it has meant for me.

In my growing years, I was often described as a good boy - well behaved, well read, reasonably well rounded - but with no particular talent. Here is what I mean:

...I was above average academically (I know this is left wide open for interpretation...but then that is the best description that comes to mind)
...I could never sing
...did not know how to play any musical instrument. I did learn tabla for a while but parted with my instructor after a difference of opinion - must have been in standard seven or eight
...was mediocre at sport (with the exception of badminton). Not because I did not have the knack for it, but my severe asthmatic condition did not allow me to exert physically
...no histrionic ability
...less said the better about my performances on the dance floor. Even now I would be hopeless without copious amount of alcohol. After which I really coudn't care less, and others have been too polite to tell me the morning after - or more realistically they themselves have vague memories of the night before - other than a throbbing head to serve a painful reminder!
...to top it all, I did not have much of a physique - a frail 54 kilograms during my undergrad days

Yet my entire professional life has been about talent...finding the right talent, training and developing it, and rewarding and retaining talent.

My views on talent have evolved much over the years - and I suspect will continue to for time to come. My initial ideas were shaped by my surroundings. Growing up in a famously competitive school in Delhi which churned out achievers by the dozen, and bred in an intellectual university atmosphere, talent and education went hand in hand. During my student years, having talent equalled being in the top percentile academically and obtaining admission to top class institutions. I would marvel at people who had the ability and perseverance to do that. And when I began my professional life, this translated into being able to attract and retain highly qualified professionals within the organisation. Our measures of success were ranking in top business schools of the country and our ability to manage to very low levels of attrition. Most of my initial years at work went in this pursuit and my team mates and I did our utmost to achieve these results. From meticulously planned recruiting campaings which would focus on positioning us in the 'right' peer set, to ensuring we had attractive compensation packages, we did all that we could to plan and manage the careers of the best and the brightest. And when competition became intense with more and more multinational companies discovering Indian talent, newer companies lured away that talent with the promise of overseas postings and sky high pay packages for top graduates. The wide media coverage on how the best talent was leaving the shores of India in almost every field of education further strengthened the view that talent was indeed scarce.

However, my notion that talent was resident in the very top academic strata was restrictive for several reasons. The first of which have to do with sheer numbers.

India has:
- 380 universities
- 11,200 higher education institutes

churning out annually:

- 6,000 PhD’s
- 200,000 engineers
- 300,000 science grads and post grads
- over 2 million graduates all put together!!

Furthermore, more often than not, the highest educational institutions are occupied by people that have had the means to access them. Again the numbers are indicative. The average annual per capita income in India is US $2,600 (IMF estimate - 2007), hence it is conceivable that gaining access to top institutions is not always possible for everyone. The economic boom of the past decade has certainly increased that access, however wide income disparities and abject poverty still remain...making it difficult for vast majority of people to these hallowed institutions.

Finally - and this may have been most obvious to the vast majority of humanity - I have learnt that talent is bigger and broader than academic achievement or material success. Over the years, I have met people from many different backgrounds - people with different academic qualifications and specialisations. People from a variety of cultures, socio-economic conditions, languages, provinces, races and nationalities. About a year ago, my colleagues and I spent a day working with street children who were rehabilitated and being taught life skills in a non-governmental institution in Bangalore. We encountered incredible talent that day...children sewing, working the printing press, crafting stuff, or doing mechanics. At the end of the day, one of them sang a song for us...and some did an amazing rendition of hot bollywood dance numbers - choreographed to perfection! And so I realized that talent does not equal academic qualifications or educational pedigree. What should have been clear from the start took me years of get to, but then I explained that I was never talented, didn’t I? Talent exists in many different places and in almost every person...it is up to us to recognise it and to be able to do something with it. When we encounter someone who can think systematically and sequentially, we see talent. When they can think destructively and discontinuously, we see talent. When people visualise possibilities, there is talent. There is talent in the stroke of the brush. In sculptures, images, in song, dance and theatre. There is even talent in disagreement...because it is almost always easier to agree and to conform than it is to challenge.

As my views on talent have evolved, it has not in any way diminished my respect for people who have excelled and graduated from the finest institutions. Far from it. I believe these are very hard working people - incredibly gifted and truly deserving of the success they achieve. What has changed is that I now respect people with myriad talents. I marvel at the different things people can do. I am fascinated by their abilities. And I am inspired by them…to an extent that I aspire to make my own little contribution to help people realize their potential. At a very personal level, it is increasingly about getting to assist people that have less access to education and economic well being. After all, isn't unlocking the potential of people at the very core of our profession. We, who call ourselves practioners and experts in Human Resource Management!

But all this will stand for naught it I couldn't walk the talk. I need to live my beliefs. So I decide to start with recognising talent in my immediate proximity. Perhaps it shall manifest in a future post…after all, don't they say charity begins at home? Or some such thing.

Goodnight. At 3.30am. Hopefully, some shuteye would induce sanity on the morrow!