The Five Talents That Really Matter

"Anyone can be a leader. A leader's strengths can be their greatest weaknesses. Those statements touted in many business books. But, according to Barry Conchie and his business partner Sarah Dalton, they are complete BS. The Five Talents That Really Matter explains how high-performing leaders are talented in five essential ways. The Five Talents That Really Matter strips away the fluff in leadership and unveils and describes the traits and characteristics that actually determine high-performance leadership. These talents provide a template against which career-driven managers and leaders can assess and develop their own capabilities. The five evidence-based talent dimensions are: Direction: High-performing leaders describe a compelling, intrinsically good destination and help others understand that getting there will be worth the effort. Drive: This dimension hardly needs a description. We all know it when we see it: strong work ethic, tenacity, goal-orientation... being a self-starter. Influence: The ability to motivate, persuade, challenge, and change the minds of others. Relationships: People matter to outstanding leaders. They can build commitment and trust among the people they work with. Execution: Excellent leaders are obsessed with getting work done and how work gets done. Through questioning, assessment, scientific predictions, and testing, Conchie and Dalton have built a database that reveals the talents and behaviors of the most successful leaders. In this book they present for the first the first time a model that demystifies the aura and complexity surrounding high performing leaders"--