[BLOG] Douglas Kruger column: The Science of Talent in Expert Positioning

Last month, I explained why positioning yourself as an industry expert is lucrative and how it can overhaul your business. But what if you’re not naturally talented? Can you still be an industry icon?

Talent, it turns out, is neither inborn nor genetic. The latest research reveals that there is a formula, which, if followed, can take you to master-practitioner levels in your sphere. To develop talent - in anything - you need the parts in this formula:

TALENT = Yearning + Input + Deliberate Practice, Sustained.

This simple formula is the result of decades of international study into the topic of Talent. It is admirably explored in Malcolm Gladwell’s book Outliers, as well as Geoff Colvin’s Talent is Overrated.

The Talent Equation:

Let’s start with Yearning. You have to want to learn. If you have no desire to improve, no burning need to be great at what you do, the other factors will remain irrelevant. If, however, you enjoy what you do and yearn to excel at it, you are already at a distinct advantage over those who do not. Now you will need the next factor: Input.

Input means any form of teaching or coaching. Simply put, you need someone to show you how. If you have yearning but no input, your development can only progress so far, and it will be slow in coming.

Reading is one form of input, and it’s a good one, but it is important to note that self-teaching is not as effective as having another person coach you, particularly in the early stages of developing proficiency in a new field. We don’t know what we don’t know. For that reason, external input is valuable.

The Most Important Ingredient:

The next factor is the most important of all: Deliberate Practice. This is vastly different to what most people have in mind when they think of practice. Deliberate Practice occurs when you break a thing down into its constituent parts, and then work on getting better at each part in isolation. You achieve this only through mind-numbing amounts of repetition, with a focus on improving one element at a time.

It explains why some people can put in 10 years of practice playing golf, and not improve one jot, while others will soar to the professional ranks with the same amount of time. The difference lies in how they practice.

An average golfer, for instance, will spend x amount of time simply playing a round of golf. The yearning may be present, but there is no outside input and no deliberate practice. Just generic golfing. Hence, his time teaches him very little.

A great golfer, however, will spend the same number of hours practicing just one skill, such as how to get a ball out of a sand bunker. He focuses on this one element, and does it over and over, until he has completely mastered it. Then he moves on to the next part. And that is Deliberate Practice. He may even do this in conjunction with the input of a coach, which would greatly enhance his efficacy.

So, armed with this knowledge, how do you ensure that you become a master practitioner at what you do? The answer is relatively simple, although the work that it entails is not.

You need to take a moment to zoom back from your everyday work and ask yourself an important question: What are the core competencies necessary for a great practitioner of your craft? If you work in Sales, then some examples might be: telephone skills, persuasion skills, people skills, presentation skills, knowledge of your product, and an understanding of non-verbal cues.

You cannot practice being better at ‘Sales.’ That’s like the golfer, simply playing a round of golf. But you can take a course to improve your presentation skills. And then another to improve your negotiation skills, and so on. Put these improved parts back together and you have an enhanced sales practitioner, who is en route to becoming an expert.

Deliberate Practice. Break down and rebuild. It’s the single greatest distinction between amateurs and super-performers.

So, whether your goal is to become the highest paid consultant in your industry, or the most renowned creative mind in your field – the most technically capable athlete or the great high chief of flower-arrangers, this is your first step: Decide that you want to be the very best. Obsess about it. Yearn for it! This desire is the beginning of the Talent equation.

Then, break it down into its smallest constituent parts. Seek input in the form of both reading materials and personal coaching. Use deliberate practice to improve your performance in each small part making up the whole. Keep at it until you’re sick of it!

The ladder is before you. You know the way to Talent. Now start climbing!

 

Douglas Kruger is a professional speaker and author of three books, including ’50 Ways to Position Yourself as an Expert.’ See him in action at www.douglaskruger.co.za, connect with him on Linked In or Twitter @douglaskruger. Email kruger@compute.co.za