Last updated on 2021/10/11
No, this isn’t a high school football game. Yes, this was channeled in the spirit of cheering everyone on.
However, instead of spirit, we need to talk about talent.
Inspiration comes from many places and will strike when you least expect it. Today, it came in the form of scrolling through one of my daily read websites.
This one was The Verge. While looking over the daily tech news they had a Vox Media careers blub nestled among the regular news about crypto-this and Apple that.
It simply read: “We’re building great things, and we need your talent“
This text registered in my vision, but not enough to stop my finger from continuing to turn the scroll wheel on my mouse.
It wasn’t until that title had scrolled off the screen that it hit me.
This isn’t about getting a job. This isn’t about looking for a job. Working for Vox media probably isn’t the right place for me and I am not even out looking for a new role.
However, this is ALL about talent.
Talent is that magical stuff that elevates you and your work to another level.
This isn’t about being the best programmer or Engineer or manager.
Talent is something wholly different.
Talent encompasses your ability to perform and function in your chosen role and to go above and beyond to provide the highest amount of value possible.
In short, talent is what allows you to punch well above your weight at what you do.
It should be noted that this is a whole different discussion than the one about finding the motivation and wherewithal to continuously perform at a high level all the time and justify having a high measure of talent.
This discussion is simply all about having that innate ability to tackle any task, project, or challenge and find a way to be successful with it.
Sounds easy, right?
Actually, it kind of is.
Going back to the headline that caught my eye this morning: “we need your talent“.
The first thought that came to my mind was a simple, “not interested.“
However, it was soon followed up by a second thought, “but I could do that.“
The thing is, it doesn’t matter what that is.
One big factor in actually being talented is having the confidence that you can do any job anywhere, even if you have to fake it until you make it.
When starting out in blogging, the talent was more about the perseverance to keep writing as much as possible. That right there was talent. Now, with thousands of views on multiple platforms and even being paid for some of those views, I feel like a talented and successful writer.
That is a statement that at times in my life would have felt very out of reach and impossible to achieve.
Starting over twenty years ago with a degree in Engineering, feeling like there was no way that the term “professional” applied to me and my abilities, a lot of things felt out of reach and impossible.
Now I run a full Engineering team with 20+ people on it and make decisions on technology and people every single day to help support an organization that I am fully invested in ensuring that it succeeds.
I have the talent to be successful.
Whether it is in development, Engineering, writing, or even working for Vox media.
The point that needs to be made here – if you can’t see yourself being successful in a role then you don’t have the talent for that role. Period.
It isn’t bragging or boasting to quietly have the confidence to know that you can do a job, and given a chance, do a job well.
In fact, it is a prerequisite for the most talented people.
When hiring, I deliberately don’t look for the people with the highest amount of development technologies or the most amount of years in a specific tech for the cheapest amount of salary.
The goal is to find the people with the highest talent and ability, even if they are somewhat lacking in a specific coding language or product know-how.
One common refrain I use often is that I can help teach and grow someone in a coding language. I can’t teach talent and ability.
You don’t necessarily need the knowledge for everything we do here. What you need to demonstrate is the ability to gain that knowledge and be successful with it.
To put it another way, talent is all about growth and change. The delta.
We seek this out everywhere.
You don’t just want to save money linearly. Sure – you could put $100 into a savings account every month for 20 years. That would net a nice, even $24,000. Or, you could put $80 into an account monthly that earns 5% interest over that same twenty years and end up with $33,019.70 over that same period.
That interest, or delta, makes a huge difference.
Your talent represents your ability interest rate that shows how much added value you bring with you. It represents your ability to grow and change over time, tackle new challenges, and overcome unknown obstacles.
We can all sit down and evaluate what we feel our level of talent is. That is the easy part.
It doesn’t mean that others will recognize that level of ability.
I know I could do most if not all of the jobs on the list of open positions for Vox Media. Does that mean that they will agree or hire me? No way. Would some be much more of a challenge than others? You bet.
Would I need to jump through hoops to work in an accounting job or to be a writing editor? Yup.
So no, I wouldn’t apply for those jobs as those roles and the effort needed to be successful in them would require too much value from me to achieve.
But do I have confidence that I could plot a path from here to there and find a way to become the perfect candidate? Definitely.
Too often we feel stuck in a role because it is what we are doing now and is what we feel like we only have the talent to do.
This means that our growth has stagnated and we are not investing in and growing our talent.
If talent and ability are a delta, then it means change. Change can be hard. In some cases, it can feel nearly impossible.
But we change every day even if it isn’t recognized and acknowledged.
We celebrate birthdays even though they reflect us growing older and changing.
We take on new projects and develop new things which require learning, even if we aren’t perceptive to the knowledge being gained at the time.
So I am using my talent and ability to bring these ideas to the world and to issue my own challenge. Take some time to look in the mirror and look for that hidden power. It is in all of us. We have the capacity to grow and change. That is a human trait that everyone has.
Find yours, embrace it, and use it to make your world a better place, whether that be a small change or a huge one.
The answer to the question here is: we’ve got talent, and you do too!
Thanks for reading!
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