Is Talent Enough?

Some time ago I attended a conference where a number of the speakers were professional sportspeople and coaches, from soccer to football. Not only did I get the chance to hear what some of the great athletes like Joe Montana and Jerry Rice had to say, I was also able to engage them in personal, one-on-one conversation. I would like to dedicate my next few posts to consolidating what I heard from these individuals and the lessons that I learn in my day-to-day work. Some of the lessons learned were basic common sense, others were a fresh look at old knowledge, and some were spanking new.

Let me begin with some observations on talent. At Kenexa, we believe that talent rules. While I fundamentally agree that talent rules, I believe equally in the power of discipline, diligence and practice along with the talent. When hearing someone like Joe Montana or Jerry Rice speak about their accomplishments, including the numerous Super Bowls that they have won, every story, every anecdote and every experience and every victory can be traced back to what they did at practice. It can all be traced back to the number of hours they spent on the field passing the ball, the number of laps they ran and the number of push-ups they did. Preparation was the common theme for all their successes. There wasn’t a single sportsperson that talked about their professional career that didn’t spend about 95 percent of their time talking about the benefits and sheer necessity of preparation, diligence, and practice.