Soundview Executive Book Summaries. - Talent is never enough: discover the choices that will take you beyond your talent

TALENT
IS
NEVER
ENOUGH

Copyright 2007 by John C. Maxwell

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, scanning, or otherexcept for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Published in Nashville, Tennessee, by Thomas Nelson, Inc.

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Published in association with Yates & Yates, LLP, Attorneys and Counselors, Orange, California.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Maxwell, John C., 1947
Talent is never enough : discover the choices that will take you beyond your talent / John C. Maxwell.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN10: 0-7852-1403-8 (hardcover)
ISBN13: 978-0-7852-1403-8 (hardcover)
ISBN10: 0-7852-8896-1 (IE)
ISBN13: 978-0-7852-8896-1 (IE)
1. Ability. 2. Success. I. Title.
BF431.M393 2006
650.1dc22

2006024658

Printed in the United States of America

07 08 09 10 QW 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2

TALENT IS NEVER ENOUGH IS DEDICATED TO JOHN PORTER MAXWELL, OUR THIRD GRANDCHILD.

HIS READY SMILE AND DESIRE TO BE WITH PAPA AND MIMI HAVE STOLEN OUR HEARTS.

WE PRAY THAT AS HE GROWS OLDER, HE WILL MAKE THE RIGHT CHOICES ENABLING HIM TO BE A TALENT-PLUS PERSON.

CONTENTS

Its called the guarantee. At the time, many people said it was just big talk. Not true. It was a mark of the confidence possessed by the person who uttered it. That strong sense of belief made him a legend and his team members champions. What could it do for you?

Why would a barber receive a prestigious fellowship, be recognized by the U.S. Small Business Administration, and be awarded an honorary doctorate? Hint: it has little to do with barbering and everything to do with his passion to change the world.

No one can make the most of his talent in the midst of bureaucratic red tape, especially in the fallout of natural disaster. Right? You might be surprised. Because of its initiative, this company was able to do the seemingly impossible in a remarkable sixty-six days.

What do you get when you put two unfocused and inexperienced hunters in one of the most bountiful hunting regions in the world? Comedy! Learn where and how to focus your efforts so that you get much better results than these hunters did.

How do you prepare for a trip to an uncharted area with unknown obstacles for which you must pack everything youll need for more than a year? That was the challenge for this great adventurer. He was successful. This chapter will help you to be prepared for whatever challenge lies ahead of you.

Nobody gave Charles a chance. Even his own family expected him to fail. But instead of letting it bother him, he practiced. Soon he became the best in the world at his profession. Hes been called the first person to become a name brand. His secret can become yours.

What do you do when a decade-old dream dies? That was the question for Vonetta. She wanted to quit, but how could she? She placed her hopes in a new dream, and her perseverance took her through to the highest level. Find out where it can take you.

His courage was legendary. Churchill stood alone against the Nazis and inspired a nation to stand with him during World War II. His story and how he developed his courage as a young man may also inspire you.

He may have been the most talented person who ever lived. At age twenty-six he was recognized as a master. But even greater than his talent were his curiosity and teachability. Those qualities elevated him from master to legend. Will they also elevate you?

What is the greatest threat to your talent? Lack of resources? Training? Opportunity? No, lack of character. When this scientist cut corners and lied, he not only hurt himselfhe let the whole world down. Learn how character can protect you.

He was a drug addict. He spent time in jail. Some thought he was a lost cause. But not this woman. She helped him turn his life around. All relationships influence our talentone way or the other. Discover whether your relationships are taking you in the best direction.

Is there such a thing as too much talent? Can it lead to a persons downfall? Dan had a one-in-a-million athletic gift. But what hurt him wasnt too much talentit was too little responsibility. Find out how to increase your responsibility to match the size of your talent.

To what does a world-class activist and rock star attribute his success? To the same thing that the best pilots in the world and the nation's top CEOs do. Teamwork! Individuals make it to the top only with the help of others. Learn how teamwork can work for you.

Thank you to
Charlie Wetzel, my writer
Stephanie Wetzel, who proofs and edits the manuscript
Linda Eggers, my assistant

Talent is often overrated and frequently misunderstood. French poet and dramatist Edouard Pailleron pointed out, Have success and there will always be fools to say that you have talent. When people achieve great things, others often explain their accomplishments by simply attributing everything to talent. But that is a false and misleading way of looking at success. If talent alone is enough, then why do you and I know highly talented people who are not highly successful?

Many American business leaders are obsessed with talent. Some think talent is the answer to every problem. Malcolm Gladwell, author of The Tipping Point and Blink, notes that many companies and consultants put finding people with talent ahead of everything else. He says, This talent mind-set is the new orthodoxy of American management. Certain companies hire dozens of MBAs from top universities, promote them quickly, reward them lavishly, and never accurately assess their performance. The prime example he gives is Enron. Its talent focus was legendary. For example, Lynda Clemmons, who started Enrons weather derivatives business, went from trader to associate to manager to director to head of her own business unit in only seven years! Gladwell asks, How do you evaluate someones performance in a system where no one is in a job long enough to allow such evaluation?

Talent is never enough. Peter Drucker, the father of modern management, said, There seems to be little correlation between a mans effectiveness and his intelligence, his imagination, or his knowledge... Intelligence, imagination, and knowledge are essential resources, but only effectiveness converts them into results. By themselves, they only set limits to what can be contained. If talent were enough, then the most effective and influential people would always be the most talented ones. But that is often not the case. Consider this:

More than 50 percent of all CEOs of Fortune 500 companies had C or C- averages in college.

Sixty-five percent of all U.S. senators came from the bottom half of their school classes.

Seventy-five percent of U.S. presidents were in the Lower-Half Club in school.