Four Books to Help You Choose the Right Talent to “Up Your Game” for Everyone Around

If you are at all involved in the HR arena for your organization; if you are at all involved in talent acquisition – you know, hiring; if you are at all involved in talent development/leadership development…  I’d like to recommend some books for you to add to your reading stack.

We would like some simple formula, a way to wave a magic wand over a candidate, and know for certain – “Yep, this is the one to hire.”

But, how many “this is exactly the one to hire” choices have turned out to be disappointing?  Way too many.

Now, there is no guarantee.  Every company, every organization — every basketball and baseball and football team, and session of congress, a President or two, have left us with that occasional yucky feeling of “how did we end up with this person?  Looks like we blew this hiring choice.”

There are no guarantees! in the talent department.

But, consider reading these books to help you think about the whole talent equation.

#1 — The Rare Find: Spotting Exceptional Talent Before Everyone Else by George Anders.  (Portfolio Hardcover; 2011).

This one is simple.  It is actually on the subject at hand.  This book will describe ways to help you find that “rare find” that you are looking for so diligently.

#2 — How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden Power of Character by Paul Tough.  (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; 2012)

This one is a surprise.  It is seemingly about “education,” but it is really about the ways that education can help develop grit; “performance character;” resilience.  These are make or break traits for people in the workplace.  This book will help you learn how to discern whether or not a candidate has these traits.  And, it will certainly help you know just why these traits are so very important.

The next suggestions will be even more of a surprise.  But I am convinced that if you were to read these with a “talent acquisition and talent development” eye, you would find them valuable.

#3 — David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants by Malcolm Gladwell.   (Little, Brown and Company; 2013).

This book has a lot to say about people who have turned disadvantages into advantages.

Nearly everyone has at least one disadvantage.  Some disadvantages would make you say – “nope.  Not qualified.”  But that “rejection” might be a mistake.

Some folks have learned to turn their disadvantages into advantages.  And this very process helped them develop character traits that would be very valuable to your organization.

#4 –The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon by Brad Stone. (Little, Brown and Company; 2013).

This book is valuable for a lot of reasons (as are the other books listed), but here is one – Jeff Bezos looks to hire people who will help “up the game” for everyone around them.  In other words, each new hire makes everyone on the team just a little bit better.

What an idea! – only hire people who make people around them better.  And, never hire anyone who would lower the overall performance of those around them.

Of course, there are many other books to add to this list.  But read these four, with an eye toward talent issues, and you just might help “up the game” for your team and your organization.