GAINMORE™ Advantage Coaching Template

Leveraging Talent
A leader who knows the talents and strengths of every team
member has a signif icant advantage over a leader who does not
know.

Leveraging that talent to the workplace is most often a simple

matter of making the connection between the way a pe rson
does a talent, and the way they do something at work.

Most people enjoy using their talent. If their work becomes a

matter of using a talent they already have and enjoy, they will
enjoy their work. This raises the level of motivation, improves
performance and generates significant business impact .

Can any talent be leveraged to work?

In our experience, yes. The process to leverage talent is:

 Identify the talent. This is for many people the most difficult
part. Unless they have an obvious talent such as painting,
music, acting, singing and so on. Indeed, most people believe
that they do not actually have any talent! So let me stress
here, that everyone has talent!

o Ask your client what they are especially good at doing, perhaps
something they really enjoy. Take time to explore this… they
do have a talent.

 Ask them how they DO the talent.

o The most common response is “I don’t know, I just do it…”

o This is exactly what we are after here. They are unconsciously

competent at the talent.

 Break down the DOING of the talent into discrete steps.

Copyright Dr. John Kenworthy © 2010 all rights reserved

This template may be us ed by certified and regis tered GAI NMORE™ Advantage Coach es only or by Coaches in training
under s upervision.
Us e by any other pers on is a violation of our I ntellectual Prop erty
GAINMORE™ Advantage Coaching Template

Leveraging Talent
Leveraging Talent Examples

 Throat singing is a rather rare and peculiar talent. For this CEO it
was his party trick, something he found he was able to do when
very young. Encouraged by his parents to demonstrate in front of
friends and neighbours, people enjoyed his performance and found
it fascinating. As a young man, he was unafraid to stand in front of
an audience and give speeches. He joined the university debating
society where his commanding voice quieted e veryone present. "I
like to entertain people, and I like to make them think" he says.

 "Running was all I ever wanted to do. I'd get up early every
morning and race the postman on his bike. For me, it was freedom.
Now, I run with my team, we race the competition and we enjoy the
freedom we gain from our bonuses and commission."

 "As a kid, I was always drawing. I loved to draw. Cartoons

especially, and comics. When I was at primary school I drew my
first comic which turned into a series and a long story - intricately
entwined with sub-plots and different characters. By the time I went
to university, I'd all but stopped drawing, taking accountancy
because that's where the jobs were. Today, I guess I'm still drawing
comics in a way. I look for the sub-plots in the accounts, what's the
other story behind the main one and that's how I teach my staff.
Look for the sub-plots - it makes auditing a whole lot more fun."

 "Calculus was easy. Everyone else thought it was really difficult and
stupid, but I found it easy. I'd get a thrill from finding the right
answer. It's obvious to me now, my recipes are just a form of
calculus, and you take ingredients A and B and turn them into X. I
don't 'think I'll tell my chefs that, they might think I'm a nerd and
not the great artiste.""I first acted in a play at kindergarten. I was a
tree. But I was the best tree ever. My parents adored my acting,
always encouraging me; in fact they wanted me to continue through
drama school and everything. I think they thought I would be a
movie star. I did try for a while when I went to university but I
never had any money. After uni, I joined a local drama club, met
my wife and we soon had our first child. So I left the acting world
and joined a local bank - great prospects, regular wages and, a
subsidised mortgage. I suppose that a COO is rather like a director
in a play, making sure that the right people are in the right place at
the right time with the right script. Brilliant!"

 "I was always the joker of the family. No matter what happened I
had to make a joke out of it. My brother bore the brunt of most of
my wilder practical jokes - and some of them weren't really funny
at all. Still, it was fun. It got me in a lot of trouble at school. In the
end I quit school and worked on a market stall. I worked for this
really sour faced bloke selling vegetables - blimey he was
miserable. He hated my joking with the customers, but they loved it
and kept coming back, so he didn't 'stop me. I'm still a joker, I like
a laugh and I like to keep the guys happy. I suppose being the
centre of attention does something for me. That's why I set this up
(the company), being the centre of everyone’s' attention and we
make money. I always say, if you can't have a laugh while your
living life then life will laugh at you."

Copyright Dr. John Kenworthy © 2010 all rights reserved

This template may be us ed by certified and regis tered GAI NMORE™ Advantage Coach es only or by Coaches in training
under s upervision.
Us e by any other pers on is a violation of our I ntellectual Prop erty
GAINMORE™ Advantage Coaching Template

Leveraging Talent
Leveraging Talent Template
Client____________________________ Date__________________________
My Talent is: Th job I need to do better
→

Steps
DOING the →
talent

1
→

2
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3
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4
→

5
→

6
→

7
→

8
→

9
→

10
→

Copyright Dr. John Kenworthy © 2010 all rights reserved

This template may be us ed by certified and regis tered GAI NMORE™ Advantage Coach es only or by Coaches in training
under s upervision.
Us e by any other pers on is a violation of our I ntellectual Prop erty