Principle 1: formulate a crystal clear ‘‘talent’’ policy, or: ‘‘What is talent?’’
Talent has become extremely popular in recent years. There are a growing number of talent
shows on television showcasing the incredible artistic performances of sometimes extremely
unlikely candidates. Talent in this regard appears to be seen as an exemplary skill that some
people possess: something Ericsson and Smith (1991) researched and concluded in the early
1990s. Malcolm Gladwell (2010) popularised his findings: talent is equal to ten years or 10,000
hours invested in a specific field. Consequently, you could rephrase the individual definition of
talent tobeabout focus, attention anddedication: ‘‘Choose any area (Sitskoorn, 2008) in which
you want to increase your talent, invest at least 10 years, and ‘presto’, you’re a talent!’’
Management science takes another perspective on talent. For both profit and non-profit
organizations talent has become ‘‘serious business’’, because talent is imperative for the
livelihood of organisations (Lawler, 2008). Optimising talent determines whether the
organisation in question grows, diverges or reorganises. From this perspective, quite a
narrow view of talent is born, one where regular and careful talent reviews will yield an ever
increasingly accurate definition of ‘‘the right stuff’’. Especially when those in executive
positions within a company are about to vacate their jobs – for whatever reason – there will be
a substantial investment to find just the right successor, within or beyond the organisation.