Does Your Firm Have Hidden Talent?
Boyle’s moving rendition of “I Dreamed a Dream” from the Broadway Tony-award winning musical Les Miserables drew gasps then cheers and then a spontaneous standing ovation from the audience. With a voice which made Julie Andrews, star of Sound of Music and Mary Poppins, sound amateurish, Boyle’s try-out became You-Tube’s most watched video in 2009. (Video link is below.)
Talent Boyle had in spades. But it takes more than talent to be a star. Since the April show, Boyle has transformed her persona to meet all the requirements for a successful performance career. Publicists at her side, a caring agent, a broader singing repertoire and a stylist transformed this raw talent into a stellar performer.
Along the way Boyle was forced into challenging personal learning, necessitated by the crisis that occurred when the reclusive woman could not emotionally handle her sudden fame. Today Boyle stands confidently, totally enjoying the thrilling life she has created.
Every organization has a latent talent, waiting to be developed and deployed to serve others. Like Boyle, other changes may be necessary to build a winning business model and secure success. Crises all too often induce these changes.
How might your organization – a collection of individual talents and organizational capability – shine? What customer group can you most delight and turn into raving-about-your-organization fans? What could you do to earn their standing ovation? With this in mind, what changes should your organization make to turn your talent(s) into an organizational advantage that lets you compete as one–of–one in an attractive market?
Build a business model around this talent. Define your target market. Decide on the scope of your business – what you are and what you are not. Capture and communicate the value promise that will lead customers to consider you. And identify, besides your talent, other aspects of your organization that will make your value promise challenging for competitors to copy. Finally, define the structures and strategies you’ll deploy to ensure profitability. With these decisions in hand, go execute.
Watch and listen to the Boyle video. The emotions you feel tap the universal desire of humans to express our innate talents and shine in the eyes of others.
Susan Boyle Utube
Sonja | MySpace Video
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For insight on business model innovation, read my recently released book, Beyond Price.
Hi Kay, Susan’s story is truly amazing. I think it says something about us as well as her – that we may not be as superficial as we sometimes appear. Your post raises an interesting question. Should companies fit the employee to the job, or fit the job to the employee? In my corporate career, the pendulum swung back and forth between these two positions, and I’m really not sure which worked out better. How do you balance the need to unleash creativity with the need for organizational efficiency and discipline? I’d love to hear your take on this, as well as what other readers think. I know it’s an issue a lot of my midsized clients struggle with on a daily basis.
I’d like to address both the article & Mr. Shorr on 2 fronts–as a hardcore fan of Susan Boyle as well as a sub-contractor for a truly extraordinary small business. First, however, I’d like to give a link to her performance 3 days ago at the SanRemo festival in Italy, where she was invited as a distinguished guest. This gives you an idea of just how she has changed, although it doesn’t show how long the standing ovation and cheering went on.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6-uRs_eHKA&feature=related
What do her fans, as super-customers do? They follow her. Many of us have watched every live performance she’s done in every country through live feeds on the internet or videos on YouTube. Along with the different nuances in singing in every performance, (I’ve watched her sing the song above hundreds of times in dozens of places, & I still clicked on the video above) they check out her hairstyle, what she’s wearing, and the audience response.
Do your best customers know as much about your company through your website or by Googling it? The business I work for (a multi-media production company) not only lets customers know the kind of work they do, but the kind of people they hire (nice, helpful ones), & the “green” measures they take (solar panels on the roof, daylighting, turning off computers at night, etc.)
Fans promote her. We buy extra CD’s to give away to people we think “need” to hear her. We “sell” her record to other customers at the CD rack or checkout counter. We play it everywhere we can. Her biggest form of advertising is word of mouth. That is also true of the company I work for. They get awards (not just the plaque, but preferred provider status) from their customers, and most of their work comes from referrals & repeat (& often expanded) business.
As to fitting the job to the employee & vice versa. Susan Boyle’s fans also love her because she’d “nice”. The company I work for hires on personality as much or more than skill. “Nice” is a bland & overworked adjective, but that’s what they look for. Employees can be trained in skills, but not in attitude. Their Human Resource & IT directors both started out as receptionists. Employees are cross-trained in any area they choose to develop their talents. Employees who prove reliable can work at home one or more days a week. (Dedicated programmers can find a wide open office space distracting.) Comp time is always given, and that’s why they’ll have employees working till midnight on Friday of a 3-day weekend to meet a deadline.
Susan Boyle’s success is unparalleled. She’s broken record after record in her industry. She sold more CD’s in 6 weeks than any other album released in 2009, and she’s #1 in global sales. The company I work for, in the last 18 months, during a terrible recession, has grown four-fold–in employees, in physical space, & most important for the bottom line, in sales & profits. Nurturing raw talent in good people pays off.
Thanks Brad, for your question and Mary Jo for your reflections. A few reactions on my part:
First, uniqueness is a wonderful quality and Susan Boyle has it in spades, which is what created so many raving fans, advancing her success. Raving fans is the best marketing in the world. Believable, free and highly effective.
Second, without question in today’s economy when anything easily automates is being shipped overseas, the quality of your people and their ability in Seth Goodin’s words to be “linchpins — artists at heart fully passionate about and creative in their work –––will spell the difference between success and an also ran. And the environment that you create for your employees in large measure drives your ability to attract and retain talent. Look at the list of the Top 100 Places to work for and you will see 100 very successful companies financially and in the marketplace, not just as a workplace. Mary Jo points to many of the aspects of a great work environment. At it’s core is what my client ELI calls Civil Treatment — where people are treated with respect and everyone is committed to each others’ success.
That said, there are times when a change in business model requires alternatives to hiring within (E.G., when HP went from calculators to computers, it needed to infuse new talent). And at times layoffs can be unavoidable. You can tell the true quality of a company’s culture by how these situations are handled.
Great leaders today are like artistic directors of chamber music or a jazz ensemble. They make sure they have the right collection of instruments at the table. But the effort is a collaboration of the talents, structured by the music, but open to how the players collaborate to on create a memorable performance.
Interesting blog, my friend! I have an interest in real estate and affordable housing options and I am always on the lookout for new and interesting sites and postings about new styles and designs of transportable homes and in particular relocatable homes for sale… which is what led me here. At any rate i just wanted to check in as I certainly plan on visiting again! Cheers!
Elva–Welcome to my blog. I hope you find it an vital learning resource. Check out my website for a link to a video in which I talk about new business models to address social issues (of which affordable housing is a huge issue). The video is under speeches and publications page. Best regards, K