Industries aren’t talents.

“He’s a talented engineer” or “she’s a talented marketer.”

You’ve heard statements like these before. It’s tempting when you see someone who’s really good at what they do to suppose they are gifted in that industry. But the reality is that industries are talents. Engineering isn’t a talent. Neither is designing, nor basketball, music, or even writing. These are allmanifestations of talents, and probably even an accumulation of several talents coming together to create an outcome.

An example:I once saw a public speaker who was adept at delivering his message. My tendency might have been to say “he’s a talented public speaker,” but instead I noticed that his true talents were 1) connecting with his audience to make a big room feel small, 2) building enthusiasm through his use of words and ability to transfer his energy, and 3) simplifying a complex idea to be easy to understand. The result, or manifestation, was effective public speaking. He likely does the same in staff meetings, classrooms, and other environments.

Likewise, talented teachers aren’t really talented teachers. Otherwise there would only be one way to do “teaching.” Rather, they are talented empathizers, connectors, ideators, planners, organizers, and/or system-builders who pull those talents together and aim them toward teaching to create an outstanding outcome.

What’s at risk?What’s the harm of referring to someone as a talented {insert industry here}?

First, if we say people are talented in an industry we leave little room for a divergent way of doing things. In other words, if he’s a talented public speaker, and I don’t do it in the same way he does, I may not believe that I, too, can be a talented public speaker because I don’t do it likethat.

Second, when developing your talents, it’s difficult to determine how best to develop your “engineering talent.” Where do you start? Read a book? Get more experience? But if you break down the talents that lead to effective engineering, you home in on something you can actually develop — ability to conceptualize a problem, talent in breaking down a system into smaller parts, or ability to move a project through various logical stages in order to achieve the ideal outcome.

Finally, if we can determine the talents at the root of our activities, we can transfer those talents across many domains in our lives. For example, an engineer I coached several years ago had a knack for being able to visualize an end product and backtrack the steps to create the product. He used this talent in both engineering and in building bikes. He could develop it by reading books about project management and developing skills in drafting and design to take these thoughts in his mind and illustrate them on paper in tangible steps and blueprints. Tapping true talent helped him maximize his gift in at least these two divergent areas of his life.

The How and an Offer to HelpHow do you figure out underlying talent? Here’s a good place to start: ask “why was I successful at that activity? What specifically did I do?”

For some, this guided self-reflection may be enough. For others, it’s more helpful to talk this through with someone who can help. One of my talents is helping individuals synthesize information that is important to their development and I’ve built a small coaching practice over the past few years to help people do more of what they love.

I’ve typically kept this group small because the amount of time I have to devote to coaching is limited. After discussing with my wife last night, I’m opening a few spots in the evenings (Mon-Wed) to coach individuals and if you are interested in learning more send me an email at dustin (at) dustinpeterson (dot) me and I can send you info.
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Here’s to doing more of what you love each day!