Washington DC:
Talent is destiny, right? Or so we like to think. Our society mythologizes leaders, innovators, artists, and athletes who seem born with innate talent and destined to succeed. If only it was that easy.
Research has demonstrated that while talent is an indispensable component of success, it is never the sole determinant. Far from it. That’s why Malcolm Gladwell asserted in “Outliers: The Secret of Success” (2008) that it takes 10,000 hours of intense focus and practice on a single discipline to master it at the highest levels. Think of Tiger Woods and his obsession as a child (actually, his father’s obsession) with golf to the exclusion of all else.
Yet Gladwell retracted some of his 10,000-hours thesis at this year’s MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference, as he should have done. In a bow to David Epstein’s work on the power of being a generalist, “Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World” (2019), Gladwell acknowledged the competitive benefits of, in my words, being a jack of many trades and a master of some. Think of Roger Federer whose well-rounded development in other sports and intellectual pursuits has helped make him one of the greatest tennis players in history. Epstein had already taken matters further for sports and performing arts in “Sports Gene: Inside the Science of Extraordinary Athletic Performance” (2013), diving headlong onto the “third rail” of political correctness by discussing the essential role of genetics in performance and success.
Dr. Angela Duckworth demonstrated in “Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance” (2016) that long-term focus and tenacity are major predictors of success, even greater than pure talent. Of course, Daniel Goleman has long maintained in publications such as “Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ” (1995) that emotional intelligence is central to achieving and sustaining success across a wide variety of pursuits. And now Admiral (Dr.) James Stavridis considers the careers of 10 U.S. Navy admirals in “Sailing True North: Ten Admirals and the Voyage of Character” (2019), underscoring that personal character is the defining feature of effective leadership.
So, what success factors matters most? All of them, of course. They all jumble around and collide into one another like so many excited molecules. Of course, specific success formulations vary by individual and context. The best leaders understand this. They know how to discern among these variables in assessing their recruits, employees, business partners, and, most important, in turning this leadership kaleidoscope on themselves. Many aspects of talent can be developed, for example, but it takes grit … and time. Emotional intelligence can be improved, too, but it requires the type of character that comes with self-awareness and introspective honesty. That's because those who need the greatest help with emotional intelligence are often the ones who resist it the most.
Come to think of it, maybe grit, focus, character, and emotional intelligence are themselves forms of talent.
Talent is destiny, right? Or so we like to think. Our society mythologizes leaders, innovators, artists, and athletes who seem born with innate talent and destined to succeed. If only it was that easy.
Research has demonstrated that while talent is an indispensable component of success, it is never the sole determinant. Far from it. That’s why Malcolm Gladwell asserted in “Outliers: The Secret of Success” (2008) that it takes 10,000 hours of intense focus and practice on a single discipline to master it at the highest levels. Think of Tiger Woods and his obsession as a child (actually, his father’s obsession) with golf to the exclusion of all else.
Yet Gladwell retracted some of his 10,000-hours thesis at this year’s MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference, as he should have done. In a bow to David Epstein’s work on the power of being a generalist, “Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World” (2019), Gladwell acknowledged the competitive benefits of, in my words, being a jack of many trades and a master of some. Think of Roger Federer whose well-rounded development in other sports and intellectual pursuits has helped make him one of the greatest tennis players in history. Epstein had already taken matters further for sports and performing arts in “Sports Gene: Inside the Science of Extraordinary Athletic Performance” (2013), diving headlong onto the “third rail” of political correctness by discussing the essential role of genetics in performance and success.
Dr. Angela Duckworth demonstrated in “Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance” (2016) that long-term focus and tenacity are major predictors of success, even greater than pure talent. Of course, Daniel Goleman has long maintained in publications such as “Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ” (1995) that emotional intelligence is central to achieving and sustaining success across a wide variety of pursuits. And now Admiral (Dr.) James Stavridis considers the careers of 10 U.S. Navy admirals in “Sailing True North: Ten Admirals and the Voyage of Character” (2019), underscoring that personal character is the defining feature of effective leadership.
So, what success factors matters most? All of them, of course. They all jumble around and collide into one another like so many excited molecules. Of course, specific success formulations vary by individual and context. The best leaders understand this. They know how to discern among these variables in assessing their recruits, employees, business partners, and, most important, in turning this leadership kaleidoscope on themselves. Many aspects of talent can be developed, for example, but it takes grit … and time. Emotional intelligence can be improved, too, but it requires the type of character that comes with self-awareness and introspective honesty. That's because those who need the greatest help with emotional intelligence are often the ones who resist it the most.
Come to think of it, maybe grit, focus, character, and emotional intelligence are themselves forms of talent.
Image courtesy of Eagle Spirit America.