DISCOVER TALENTS
For me, organization has always been synonymous with competitive advantage: it's a living system that evolves, changes, and needs to be nurtured by example, talent development, and the associated delegation. Talent management , for me, has always had a lot to do with the organizational principles of Silicon Valley companies and, above all , team sports, even though I've always practiced individual sports.
In team sports, there's a locker room, there are assigned roles and tasks, there are leaders and followers, there are times when you're in top form and times when you have to make room for others, times when you have to support and serve others; there are rules and principles, and you win or lose, and then you all get back up together (at least that's how it should be for me).
It's true, I've almost always played individual sports, where I could be directly responsible for my results, allowing me to challenge myself every day to improve, aware that athletic results are the sum of many details, from nutrition to sleep, from concentration, from consistency in training to attention to technique, and even the ability to understand my own and my opponents' strengths and weaknesses . Nature didn't give me great physique in terms of stamina and strength, so I tried to compensate for these shortcomings with other skills, and this constant exercise was perhaps a useful training ground for business and one-on-one negotiations. But if you want to build a successful company, it's undoubtedly more important to have a great team than a single star, and that's why it's so important to choose the right people and empower them to express themselves; that's why I love studying the dynamics of team sports and innovative organizations so much.
In my concept of a #team , a specific role takes on different characteristics depending on the person who plays it, so the #team itself must be created and modified based on who plays the various roles. Let me try to translate this: project managers are not all the same, just like marketing managers, retail managers, and so on; each has different soft and hard characteristics, a seniority and their own communication style, so every team is the result of a unique alchemy that also depends on the moment and the project being tackled, rather than on the client and, so to speak, on the objectives and all the stakeholders interested in the success or even failure of the project (detractors should never be forgotten).
.avif)
Organization and sports
Talent and team
The concept of team is a complex topic that I only wanted to touch on to define the context and thus be able to focus on one specific aspect: how do you identify talent and how do you best express it?
For those familiar with football (a wonderful sport in itself, sometimes ruined by the business interests that surround it), it's easy to understand that the same striker performs differently depending on the team, the coach's confidence, the teammates he supports, the type of training, his emotional state, and his personal tranquility at the time. In short, the striker (the talent) must be understood and empowered to perform at his best... there are coaches who are masters at helping young players blossom, who, coincidentally, sometimes seem like they're not doing much, but in the end, they end up being the most successful, working more on psychology and player chemistry, more on principles than on imposing formations and playbooks.
But how do you identify a talent?
There are several factors that I consider common, some of which I believe are entirely personal or at least unscientific, and it is from the mix of these factors, sometimes with different weights, that I find a talent, because talents are all different from each other, as are people and as José Mourinho says, "it's stupid to treat all footballers the same way, they are not all the same"...
For those who are #juniors or have just graduated... I look to see if they've done anything else in life besides studying, especially if they've played sports regularly or have other passions, if they love certain types of music, if they've had experience abroad, if they speak at least good English, and if they've managed any complex projects or found themselves in critical situations and how they got out of them. It's not so important whether they did well in school; I look to see if they exude positivity, if they're curious and helpful, smart and punctual, if they have a personality or, at least, a style of their own (I must say that this last aspect has become relevant over time, even if it's never really been decisive and, in any case, depends on the role the person will have to play: a nerd wearing a Star Wars or Commodore 64 t-shirt says a lot about himself, as does a designer's style: minimal and coordinated is fine, but if it's over the top or has a lumberjack-style plaid shirt... we'll see if he has other qualities...).
Experienced talents
If you are looking for someone with experience, the criteria change .
First, I look to see if the candidate has worked in a variety of sectors, has spent at least three years at a company, and has already managed teams. I also look for concise and non-self-referential CVs, hobbies outside of work, and a stable love life . I believe that to be consistent at work, you need to be happy at home. Thus, a LinkedIn and Instagram profile become the candidate's calling cards, both personally and professionally (even not having a profile can be a conscious and wise choice). If the candidate has been involved in competitive sports, they earn 100 points, as do those who have already completed complex projects. I prefer candidates who have worked for companies of very different sizes , perhaps in close contact with management or ownership, rather than those from large multinationals (multinationals are fine on a CV, but not sufficient).
I also like to see profiles with diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds , especially if they're music and art lovers in general. Ultimately, the selection process is a mix of factors that tell me whether the talent is a good fit for my organization... and as I said, the mix of characteristics doesn't always have the same criteria and weight, because it depends on the team they'll be working on and the current needs of the client and the company. Simply put, if I need to hire an account and manage a team in Venice, that candidate will have one profile; if, on the other hand, they need to open an office in Milan and build a new team, for example, they'll have other characteristics, more oriented towards autonomy, problem solving, and so on.
There seems to be a bit of inconsistency or at least some #complexity in what I'm saying; yes, searching is not a simple activity: I'm focused on finding the right person for the exact context in which they need to work.
On the other hand, I also happened to hire talents that I didn't have the right placement for at that time (but I couldn't let them slip away because they were the right prospects...) and I asked them to take a journey in different roles to create the right space for them within six, twelve months.
Ultimately , the interview makes all the difference , and it's important to hear the feelings the candidate conveys, whether they're sincere, and whether they care about the position. I recommend having two people evaluate the candidate, if possible, to be as objective as possible. It's important that the candidate knows how to do the job, but it's not a determining factor; in fact, it's even more important that they have passion and the right attitude, because jobs are learned, and I'd say quickly. Also, keep in mind that the context of an innovative company was a big help: over time , we've invented many professions (because, at least in Italy, they didn't exist), from digital retailers to sales assistants, personal shoppers, digital merchandisers, digital risk managers, and marketplace managers; many professions only existed offline, where more traditional methods and tools are used.
.avif)
Interview and attitude
Other professional skills already existed, but we reinvented them, I would say: because our approach had to be unique, as did the range of professions we offered, to be able to have a distinctive value proposition , different from other players. But I'll return to this point because it represented an important competitive advantage for winning competitions against vertical agencies without being the best in every single discipline; offering a different perspective was sometimes a winning strategy, and furthermore, I believe the "whole" is more valuable than the sum of its parts.
But what is ultimately the key element of a candidate?
Is there a secret ingredient? Maybe not, but I certainly paid particular attention to one aspect of each candidate... a characteristic, not so clear, that we can summarize as an attitude to stress.
The challenge was this: to look for in the candidate a lack of fear in facing new things, a desire to challenge themselves and try and push themselves beyond their own abilities and limits, with the attitude of a champion.
Today, some might call it resilience, but it's not quite the same thing: more than the ability to absorb difficult situations and start over, what's crucial for me is the ability to "take a beating" and continue to persevere towards a shared goal... to overcome individual obstacles... in short, to be tough, because projects, both work-related and personal growth-related, require the right level of commitment and attention to detail over a medium-long period.
Author - Christian Nucibella