PREDICTING LEADERSHIP EFFECTIVENESS THROUGH THE TALENTS THAT REALLY MATTER

Abstract Conchie (founder and president of Conchie Associates) and Dalton (partner, Conchie Associates) explain that they apply science “to the study, application, and development of leadership,” adapted from the research in their book The Five Talents Really Matter . They discuss their criteria for outstanding leadership and point to “over 58,000 top level leaders in our global database.” Their scientific “assessment of The Five Talents That Really Matter carries a disproportionate weight, greater than all the other factors thought to be important in leadership selection, in predicting top leadership performance.” The Talents “capture the broad variability of traits, dispositions, and characteristics the very best leaders possess, and, through the Executive Leadership Assessment built to measure these talents, we are able to use the results to help predict future leadership performance.” In their words, the Talents are Setting Direction (using modern GPS technology as a metaphor), Harnessing Energy, Exerting Pressure (“Debate and dissent, we’ve found, is what many leaders claim to value yet precious few succeed in delivering”), Increasing Connectivity (“The very best leaders…are straight shooters who deliver difficult messages with compassion,”) and Controlling Traffic (“Exceptional leaders responsible for business execution follow rigid rules with maximum flexibility.”)