Talent Advantage

Alan Weiss is a consultant, speaker, and bestselling author of Getting Started in Consulting and Million Dollar Consulting. His firm, Summit Consulting Group, Inc., has worked with clients such as Merck, Hewlett-Packard, GE, Mercedes-Benz, State Street Corporation, The Times Mirror Company, the Federal Reserve, The New York Times Company, and over 500 other leading organizations. His blog is www.contrarianconsulting.com. Dr. Nancy MacKay is President and cofounder of MacKay & Associates Advisors Inc. She coaches and facilitates six CEO networks involving over seventy CEOs. Her clients include Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers, Teekay Corporation, PricewaterhouseCoopers, RBC Royal Bank, TELUS, Methanex, Best Buy, and many other leading organizations. For more information, please visit www.mackayandassociates.ca.

• Acknowledgments. Introduction.About the Authors.Chapter 1 Why Leaders Must Fight the Battle.Human Resources is to Talent Search as Airplane Food is to Fine Dining.Strong leaders attract strong people.Threatened subordinates sink the ship.Staff functions are, well, staff functions.Would YOU be hired by your own HR department today?Chapter 2 The Five Failings of Non-Extraordinary Leaders (and their cures).The Leaders’ Dysfunctions Become Everyone’s Dysfunctions.Priorities: Not making the priority list.Assessment: Not knowing it if you tripped over it.Exemplar: Setting the wrong example (cognitive dissonance).Connections: Career development divorces succession planning.Women: Not understanding male filters.Chapter 3 The Three Priorities of the Talent-Seeking Leader.How to Accelerate and Simplify the Search for Top People.Winning the war for talent: People.Strategy development: Involving the right people.Strategy execution: Creating a culture of accountability for results.Chapter 4 Talent is More Than Pure Performance.We’re Not Talking About Performing Seals.What is talent and why does it matter?The difference between good and outstanding.Talent “outs”.Assessing your resources: The talent test.Chapter 5 The Semi-Renewable Resource.You Can Replant Trees, but Talent Doesn’t Grow so Easily.If talent were readily renewable, every company would be excellent.Trees don’t move, talent does.Talent isn’t forever—it can obsolesce.The last thing you need is parity.Chapter 6 Talent Is Attracted, Not Recruited.The Myths of Corporate Recruiting.Competing by dollars is silly and expensive.Why “most desired” lists don’t matter.Maximizing application of talent drives up attraction.“Shanghaied” sailors eventually mutiny.Chapter 7 Competitive Advantage Is All Around You.Talent Builds Advantage From the Inside Out.Approaching the marketplace from a position of strength.The value of a strong bench.The power of human and intellectual capital.Why talent is often subsumed.Chapter 8 The Process of Retaining Talent.Attraction is Useless Without Nurturing and Development.Nonfi nancial incentives and motivators.Inclusion.The dynamic of skills, experience, knowledge, and behavior.Emotional connections.Chapter 9 The Aerodynamics of Leadership.Creating an Arrow and not a Flying Barn.You may be on the horse, but do you know where it’s going?Strategy as a daily guide and filter.Accepting dissent but not rebellion.Micro- and macro-managing.Chapter 10 Counterintuitive Development.Focusing on Top Talent, not Remedial Help.Minimizing dysfunctional human resource investments.Recognizing the all-stars.Creating accountabilities for development.Sharing success and credit.Chapter 11 Six Strategies to Win the War for Talent.Winning Mere Battles is Insufficient.Create a leadership style that is consistent and transparent.Create accountabilities for talent creation.and retention down the line to attract, retain, and develop talent.Marry career development and succession planning.Become the leading advocate and avatar for top talent acquisition.View talent holistically, embracing life balance.Accept nothing less than extraordinary leadership and talent.Index.