The Talent Advantage How to Attract and Retain the Best and the Brightest

by Weiss, Alan; MacKay, Nancy

• ISBN13: 9780470450567
• ISBN10: 0470450568
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2009-06-15
• Publisher: Wiley

Summary

Praise for The Talent Advantage"The Talent Advantage gives each of us the opportunity to learnnew ways to accelerate leadership development. Do yourself and your employees a huge favor-invest your time in reading this book." -Peter Blake, CEO, Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers"The Talent Advantage is the quintessential road map foranyone who wants to become a successful business leader!" -Bjorn Moller, CEO, Teekay Corporation"Drawing on a wide variety of practical examples, theauthors explain how to create extraordinary leaders through effective succession planning. The book is a fantastic mix ofstories, wisdom, and practical advice." -Craig Campbell, Partner, PricewaterhouseCoopers"The Talent Advantage will make you think about talentmanagement in a new way. The book is full of practical strategies thatcan be applied immediately to strengthen your talent pool." -Paul Wilson, President, Mark's Work Wearhouse"Talent is an essential competitive advantage in thenew economy. This book is full of practical tips and techniques togive companies an edge in the war for talent." -Chad Hiley, Vice President, Human Resources, Barrick Gold Corporation

Author Biography

Alan Weiss is a consultant, speaker, and bestselling author of Getting Started in Consulting and Million Dollar Consulting. His firm, Summit Consulting Group, Inc., has worked with clients such as Merck, Hewlett-Packard, GE, Mercedes-Benz, State Street Corporation, The Times Mirror Company, the Federal Reserve, The New York Times Company, and over 500 other leading organizations. His blog is www.contrarianconsulting.com.

Dr. Nancy MacKay is President and cofounder of MacKay & Associates Advisors Inc. She coaches and facilitates six CEO networks involving over seventy CEOs. Her clients include Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers, Teekay Corporation, PricewaterhouseCoopers, RBC Royal Bank, TELUS, Methanex, Best Buy, and many other leading organizations. For more information, please visit www.mackayandassociates.ca.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. xi
Introduction	p. xiii
About the Authors	p. xv
Why Leaders Must Fight the Battle Human Resources is to Talent Search as Airplane Food is to Fine Dining	p. 1
Strong leaders attract strong people	p. 3
Threatened subordinates sink the ship	p. 8
Staff functions are, well, staff functions	p. 13
Would You be hired by your own HR department today?	p. 17
The Five Failings of Non-Extraordinary Leaders (and their cures) The Leaders' Dysfunctions Become Everyone's Dysfunctions	p. 21
Priorities: Not making the priority list	p. 23
Assessment: Not knowing it if you tripped over it	p. 27
Exemplar: Setting the wrong example (cognitive dissonance)	p. 30
Connections: Career development divorces succession planning	p. 31
Women: Not understanding male filters	p. 33
The Three Priorities of the Talent-Seeking Leader How to Accelerate and Simplify the Search for Top People	p. 39
Winning the war for talent: People	p. 42
Strategy development: Involving the right people	p. 45
Strategy execution: Creating a culture of accountability for results	p. 48
Talent is More Than Pure Performance We're Not Talking About Performing Seals	p. 57
What is talent and why does it matter?	p. 59
The difference between good and outstanding	p. 65
Talent "outs"	p. 68
Assessing your resources: The talent test	p. 70
The Semi-Renewable Resource You Can Replant Trees, but Talent Doesn't Grow so Easily	p. 75
If talent were readily renewable, every company would be excellent	p. 77
Trees don't move, talent does	p. 84
Talent isn't forever-it can obsolesce	p. 88
The last thing you need is parity	p. 90
Talent Is Attracted, Not Recruited The Myths of Corporate Recruiting	p. 93
Competing by dollars is silly and expensive	p. 95
Why "most desired" lists don't matter	p. 99
Maximizing application of talent drives up attraction	p. 102
"Shanghaied" sailors eventually mutiny	p. 105
Competitive Advantage Is All Around You Talent Builds Advantage From the Inside Out	p. 109
Approaching the marketplace from a position of strength	p. 111
The value of a strong bench	p. 114
The power of human and intellectual capital	p. 117
Why talent is often subsumed	p. 119
The Process of Retaining Talent Attraction is Useless Without Nurturing and Development	p. 123
Nonfinancial incentives and motivators	p. 125
Inclusion	p. 128
The dynamic of skills, experience, knowledge, and behavior	p. 131
Emotional connections	p. 134
The Aerodynamics of Leadership Creating an Arrow and not a Flying Barn	p. 137
You may be on the horse, but do you know where it's going?	p. 139
Strategy as a daily guide and filter	p. 142
Accepting dissent but not rebellion	p. 145
Micro- and macro-managing	p. 148
Counterintuitive Development Focusing on Top Talent, not Remedial Help	p. 155
Minimizing dysfunctional human resource investments	p. 157
Recognizing the all-stars	p. 159
Creating accountabilities for development	p. 162
Sharing success and credit	p. 167
Six Strategies to Win the War for Talent Winning Mere Battles is Insufficient	p. 171
Create a leadership style that is consistent and transparent	p. 173
Create accountabilities for talent creation and retention down the line to attract, retain, and develop talent	p. 176
Marry career development and succession planning	p. 180
Become the leading advocate and avatar for top talent acquisition	p. 184
View talent holistically, embracing life balance	p. 186
Accept nothing less than extraordinary leadership and talent	p. 189
Index	p. 193
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.