"Talent is often overrated and frequently misunderstood."

A thought by John C. Maxwell in his book, Talent Is Never Enough (p. 1). HarperCollins Leadership.  Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.)

John says, "French poet and dramatist Edouard Pailleron pointed out, 'Have success and there will always be fools to say that you have talent.' When people achieve great things, others often explain their accomplishments by simply attributing everything to talent. But that is a false and misleading way of looking at success. If talent alone is enough, then why do you and I know highly talented people who are not highly successful?

He continues, "Many American business leaders are obsessed with talent. Some think talent is the answer to every problem. Malcolm Gladwell, author of The Tipping Point and Blink, notes that many companies and consultants put finding people with talent ahead of everything else. He says, 'This "'talent mind-set'" is the new orthodoxy of American management.' Certain companies hire dozens of MBAs from top universities, promote them quickly, reward them lavishly, and never accurately assess their performance. The prime example he gives is Enron. Its talent focus was legendary. For example, Lynda Clemmons, who started Enron’s weather derivatives business, went from trader to associate to manager to director to head of her own business unit in only seven years! Gladwell asks, 'How do you evaluate someone’s performance in a system where no one is in a job long enough to allow such evaluation?' "

John continues, "Talent is never enough. Peter Drucker, the father of modern management, said, 'There seems to be little correlation between a man’s effectiveness and his intelligence, his imagination, or his knowledge . . . Intelligence, imagination, and knowledge are essential resources, but only effectiveness converts them into results. By themselves, they only set limits to what can be contained.' If talent were enough, then the most effective and influential people would always be the most talented ones. But that is often not the case. Consider this:

• More than 50 percent of all CEOs of Fortune 500 companies had C or C- averages in college. 
• Sixty-five percent of all U.S. senators came from the bottom half of their school classes.  
• Seventy-five percent of U.S. presidents were in the Lower-Half Club in school.  
• More than 50 percent of millionaire entrepreneurs." (1) 

John then says, "Clearly talent isn’t everything."

And that is a great place to start, isn't it? Yes, yes! #continuethought