RECOMMENDED ARTICLES
I think these articles are particularly insightful and helpful on talent management – my favorites over time.
This list is far from complete, and I will be adding to it on an ongoing basis. If you have favorite articles on talent management which you think others would value seeing, please let me know. I look forward to discovering gems I don’t yet know about.
Talent Management in the Boardroom
Ending the CEO Succession Crisis
Ram Charan, Harvard Business Review, February 2005
This is the best article I have read on the current (broken) state of CEO succession planning in North America. Ram Charan, co-author of The Leadership Pipeline and Execution, brooks no excuses, calling CEOs and Boards without robust succession plans “failures”. He outlines in detail the contributing factors to this malaise, sounding the alarm and pointing out some common pitfalls. Though he doesn’t provide a complete roadmap for succession readiness, Charan offers a few points that can improve a board’s chance of success. A must read for directors, whose job it is to make the single most important decision influencing the company’s future success.
Order/Read Article
Changing of the Guard
Geoffrey Colvin, Fortune Magazine, January 8, 2001
Read Article
Evaluating the CEO
Stephen P. Kaufman, Harvard Business Review, October 2008
Read Article
How to Groom the Next Boss
Louis Lavelle, BusinessWeek Online, May 10, 2004
Read Article
The Delicate Matter of “Number Two”
Dennis C. Carey and Dayton Ogden, Directors and Boards Magazine, March 22, 2000
Making Succession Succeed
Robert Lear, Chief Executive Magazine, March 1, 1998
Read Article
Holes at the Top: Why CEO Firings Backfire
Margarethe Wiersema, Harvard Business Review, December 2002
Read Article
Don’t Hire the Wrong CEO
Warren Bennis and James O’Toole, Harvard Business Review, May-June 2000
Read Article
General
The Economist: October 2006 Issue
This issue’s cover story, “The Search for Talent,” contained a series of nine articles describing the global war for talent and what some companies and countries are - or should be - doing to respond. This collection of articles is the best summary I have read regarding the dynamics that are creating this widespread business challenge. I highly recommend this issue to anyone interested in – or not yet aware of – the war for talent. By the way, our book, The War for Talent, was one of only a few sources mentioned in these articles. And check out the gorgeous illustration on the front cover.
Read Article
Racing for Growth: An Interview with PerkinElmer’s Greg Summe
Hollis Heimboch
Harvard Business Review, November 2000
An inspiring account of how Greg Summe turned around PerkinElmer from a sluggish military contractor to a vibrant manufacturer of numerous high-tech products. Dramatically upgrading the talent pool was a big part of what Summe did to pump life into this company. After 2 1/2 years, 80% of the top 100 managers were new to their positions, and half were new to the company. Summe deliberately structured the company, the jobs and the compensation packages to entice top-flight talent to join this previously unattractive company.
Order/Read Article
Consistent Profits Consistently
Charles Knight
Harvard Business Review, January 1992
A detailed description of the management processes that drove the impressive performance of Emerson Electric over decades. CEO Chuck Knight describes the talent review process and the famous organization room that he used to plan the moves of the top 500 managers of Emerson. Another great example of the talent mindset in action through a simple but highly effective talent management process.
Order/Read Article
Muscle-Build the Organization
Andrall Pearson
Harvard Business Review, July 1, 1987
This classic article was written by Pearson as he reflected on his tenure as CEO of PepsiCo in the eighties. It’s a wonderful example of a leader with a talent mindset, and the ways he personally built a stronger talent pool. Impassioned and inspiring, this article is still great reading.
Order/Read Article
The Talent Myth
Malcolm Gladwell
The New Yorker, July 22, 2002
Malcolm Gladwell discusses the connection between the ideas in The War For Talent and the demise of Enron. He develops the case that a “star culture”, built on recruiting and developing highly talented people, is destined to fail. While I disagree with much of this article, Gladwell does raise some worthwhile points.
http://gladwell.com/pdf/talent.pdf
Capital Versus Talent
Roger L. Martin and Mihnea C. Moldoveanu
Harvard Business Review, July 2003
This article presents a very interesting argument that value-creating talent is taking an increasingly larger share of the profits from businesses. The authors refer to trends in rising compensation for CEOs, investment bankers and others as evidence of this. “For a century capital fought labor for the biggest share of the profits. Now knowledge workers have gone to war with investors – and it isn’t clear which side will win.” This is a great thought piece which I highly recommend.
Order/Read Article
Disciplined Talent Management
Let’s Hear it for B Players
Thomas de Long and Vineeta Vijayaraghavan
Harvard Business Review, June 2003
This article does a nice job of describing the important role B performers play in an organization’s performance and what managers should do to make sure they retain these valuable players. I do, however, take issue with the authors’ definition of “A” players as having reckless or volatile behavior that can destabilize the organization. That certainly isn’t how I would define an A player. That being said, this article rounds out an under-developed topic and contains a number of good insights.
Order/Read Article
Thoughtful Executive Development
The Very Real Dangers of Executive Coaching
Steven Berglas
Harvard Business Review, June 2002
This article warns about the risks of inappropriate uses of executive coaching. Given the huge boom in executive coaching these days, I think this is a timely piece that will help leaders think more critically about how and when to engage executive coaches.
Order/Read Article
Creative Recruiting and Retention
Hiring Without Firing
Claudio Fernandez-Araoz
Harvard Business Review, July-Aug 1999
This article has a number of good pointers on how to increase your chance of making a successful executive-level hire. The part on structured interviews – what they are, why they are so important and how to do them – is particularly good.
Read Article
The Job No CEO Should Delegate
Lawrence Bossidy
Harvard Business Review, March 2001
Bossidy reflects on the turnaround he led at AlliedSignal and comments on how important upgrading the talent pool was to achieving that. He specifically describes what he does to assess outside candidates – including probing reference checks – and how he has worked to improve his hiring “batting average”.
Order/Read Article
How to Hire the Next Michael Jordan
John Sullivan
Fast Company, November 1998
Several good ideas for more creative and proactive hiring, including maintaining a database and relationship with candidates over years, pre-qualifying great target candidates, and paying what it takes to get great talent.
Order/Read Article
|
