What are the core components of talent? V7

 What is the purpose of this article?

Enable founders, the C-Suite, board of directors, investors, and others to discuss the company’s talent requirements.

This article does not provide tax, legal or financial advice.

You must do your own research and fact-based analysis using current and relevant information.

AI did not write this article.  100% human written.

You can download a PDF of this article from: What are the core components of talent V7

How do you read this article?

• The body of the article contains description of the 10 core components of talent.
• The appendix describes the core skills that will be even more important in 2030 than 2025. The appendix is based on a report from the World Economic Forum. The value of future skills is illustrated using the board of directors.

 What are the critical learnings in this article?

• There are 10 core components of talent.
• People often focus on just 1 component of talent: Crystallized intelligence (e.g. historical skills, knowledge, experience, etc.) and ignore the other 9. This often leads to major problems, because historical skills, knowledge, and experience are quickly becoming obsolete.
• The core components of talent fit into the qualification’s sections of a typical job description.
• The core components of talent fit into the key competencies section of a typical job scorecard.
• An AI worker would have both a job description and a job scorecard.
• If AI is assisting a person in a role, then need clarity on how the AI’s 10 core components of talent are improving the person’s job scorecard.
• What is the definition of an AI worker? What is the definition of an AI agent? What is the definition of AI? I don’t know.

What are the 10 core components of talent? – summary

People often focus on just 1 component of talent: Crystallized intelligence (e.g. historical skills, knowledge, experience, etc.) and ignore the other 9.  This often leads to major problems, because historical skills, knowledge, and experience are quickly becoming obsolete.

#1 Self Awareness

#2 Character

#3 Relationship skills:

#4 Communications

#5 Crystallized intelligence

#6 Fluid intelligence

#7 Cognitive skills

#8 Ability to quickly learn and unlearn: paradigms, frameworks, methodologies, data, facts, knowledge.

#9 Creativity

#10 Physical capabilities.

What are the 10 Core components of talent? – details

#1 Self Awareness

What are the two types of self-Awareness?^1.

• Internal self-awareness: How clearly we see and understand ourselves. Understanding what our competitive strengths, weaknesses, and capabilities are.
• External self-awareness: understanding how other people view us.

What is the value of self awareness?

• How can you succeed if you don’t know how others perceive you, and which perceptions you need to change? E.g. Decision makers who would hire you or promote you? Customers who would buy from you? Someone deciding whether or not to become your spouse?
• How can you succeed if you don’t understand your capabilities, the implications of your capabilities, and which ones to change? E.g. I’ve met people who have limited skills in certain areas but at the same time hope that companies that are looking for world class skills will hire them. The result is they don’t get hired, sometimes accompanied by massive disappointment.
• Internal self-awareness is associated with happiness, and higher job and relationship satisfaction.¹
• Employees perceive leaders with higher external self-awareness as: having better relationships with them and being more effective leaders.¹

How many people have self-awareness?

• Most people believe they are self-aware.¹
• Only 10-15% of people have self awareness.¹
• 87% of Stanford University MBA students rate their academic performance above the median. 94% of U.S. college professors rate themselves superior to their colleagues. 2
• 96% of leaders believe their people skills are above average. 3

What are the challenges in gaining self-awareness?¹

• People don’t always learn from experience. Experience leads to over-confidence in self-knowledge
• The more power a person has, the more likely they are to over-estimate their skills and abilities.
• People who spend time in introspection are less self-aware, have worse job satisfaction, and well-being

#2 Character

• VME (Values, Morals, and Ethics) Warren Buffett supposedly said “..looking for people to hire, you look for three qualities: integrity, intelligence, and energy. And if you don’t have the first, the other two will kill you.”
• Courage: It takes courage to make the right decision. The right decision is often not: the cheapest, easiest, lowest risk to the company, lowest risk to you, and what everyone else is doing.
• Perseverance, especially against all odds.
• Knowing when to stop persevering. One leader told me “If you’re digging yourself into a hole, stop digging.”

#3 Relationship skills:

• The ability to create and sustain a network of personal relationships.
• Persuasion and negotiation, which is key to managing different points of view and interests.
• Creating and maintaining followers. A leader without committed followers is not a leader.
• Industry disruption and major change require the identification and creation of new relationships and spending less time on obsolete relationships.

#4 Communications

Communications activities include:

• Writing, speaking, singing, drawing, and body language
• Speaking and singing also include tones, pitch, etc.

Communications is two way:

• Broadcasting
• Listening, which includes analysis of input

Communications can have a variety of outcomes, including:

• Understanding other people
• Changing the belief, emotions, and behaviours of others.
• Learning – such as facts, knowledge, ways of thinking.
• Building trust and relationships.
• Persuading people to take certain actions.
• Gaining the emotional and intellectual support of people.

#5 Crystallized intelligence⁴

• Crystallized intelligence is comprised of historical: skills, knowledge (including ways to think, mental paradigms, methodologies), and data.
• The need for crystallized knowledge varies enormously depending on the situation.
• Many years of experience may be very valuable for a doctor doing knee replacements.
• Understanding what customer needs were 5 years ago, and how those were met, may be of little value when: customers have changed; needs have changed; and competition has changed.

#6 Fluid intelligence⁴

• The ability to solve problems without past experience. This is critical for innovation, which is coming up with new and better solutions.
• The future is impossible to predict but actions and decisions are focused on this unpredictable future.
• The future will also be different from the past. i.e. there won’t be historical experience to draw upon.
• Able to provide direction when there is no map. ⁵

#7 Cognitive skills⁶

• Long-term memory
• Working memory: hang onto information while using it
• Logic and reasoning
• Visual processing
• Processing speed
• Attention
  1. Sustained – for long periods of time
  2. Selective – without distraction
  3. Divided – doing two things at once

#8 Ability to quickly learn and unlearn: paradigms, frameworks, methodologies, data, facts, knowledge.

• The founders of the majority of unicorns (startups which achieved a $1 billion valuation) had no previous domain experience. ⁷
• Roche paid $1.9 billion US for Flatiron Health, a cancer electronic records company. The Flatiron founders (Nad Turner and Zach Weinberg) had no background in cancer. They came from advertising.⁸

 #9 Creativity

A Google search of creativity reveals many very different definitions of creativity. Two definitions are:

• “The ability to think about a task or a problem in a new or different way”
• “Creativity involves two processes: thinking, then producing. If you have ideas but don’t act on them, you are imaginative but not creative”

#10 Physical capabilities. These may include:

• Senses, including sight, hearing, touch, smell, taste
• Strength and endurance

How do the core components of talent fit into a typical job description?

The core components of talent fit into the qualification’s sections of a typical job description.

• Job Title:
• Job Summary: High-level overview (2-4 sentences) of the role and its purpose within the company.
• Company Overview: Introduction to the company’s mission, values, and culture.
• Duties and Responsibilities: Primary tasks and essential functions.
• Required Qualifications: Must have skills, education, experience, and certifications. CORE COMPONENTS OF TALENT
• Preferred Qualifications: Nice-to-have skills and experience. CORE COMPONENTS OF TALENT
• Reporting Structure: Who does the role report to.
• Location & Working Conditions: Specifies the job location (e.g., in-office, remote, hybrid) and any relevant physical demands or environmental factors.
• Compensation and Benefits: Often includes a salary range (though not always) and a summary of key benefits like health insurance, retirement plans, and paid time off.

How do the core components of talent fit into a typical job scorecard?

The core components of talent fit into the key competencies section of a typical job scorecard.

• Role Mission: A sentence that defines the ultimate purpose of the role.
• Key Result Areas (KRAs) / Outcomes: A short list (3-5 items) of the measurable results the person is accountable for.
• Key Performance Indicators (KPIs): The specific metrics used to track the KRAs.
• Key Responsibilities / Activities: The primary actions the person will take to achieve the outcomes. This links the “how” (activities) to the “what” (outcomes).
• Key Competencies: The essential behaviors, skills, and traits a person needs to succeed in the role. CORE COMPONENTS OF TALENT.
• Company’s Core Values: Lists the company’s core values to ensure what the employee does is aligned with the core values.

What are the implications of AI?

• An AI worker would have both a job description and a job scorecard.
• If AI is assisting a person in a role, then need clarity on how the AI’s 10 core components of talent are improving the person’s job scorecard.

What are some of the AI challenges?

• What is the definition of an AI worker? What is the definition of an AI agent? What s the definition of AI? Often I hear people explaining something will say “The solution is based on AI”. That is not an explanation. It’s similar to saying “The solution is based on people”
• Since 1993 Visa AI had been deciding whether to decline or accept credit card transactions.
• AI is screening job applications and determining who to interview or not interview.
• AI is making stock buying and selling decisions in high frequency trading.
• Cybersecurity AI is making decisions on what to do with threats without human oversight.

What are your next steps?

• Define the words/concepts you’re using, in a glossary. I’ve seen major confusion when the same words mean different things to different people.
• Review job descriptions and job scorecards. Start with the board of directors and C-Suite.  Measurable results and KPIs are critical.
• Include AI workers and AI assistants in the above.

Footnotes

¹ What self-awareness really is (and how to cultivate it) – Harvard Business Review 2019 January 04

https://hbr.org/2018/01/what-self-awareness-really-is-and-how-to-cultivate-it

We’re all above average

2 https://www.northcoastjournal.com/humboldt/were-all-above-average/Content?oid=4206392&media=AMP+HTML

Aspiring to leadership: Technical knowledge vs people skills

3 https://smartleaders.ca/aspiring-to-leadership-technical-knowledge-vs-people-skills/

⁴ Fluid vs crystallized intelligence

https://www.simplypsychology.org/fluid-crystallized-intelligence.html

⁵ The five new foundational qualities of effective leadership, PWC, Strategy+Business, June 14 2023

https://www.strategy-business.com/article/The-five-new-foundational-qualities-of-effective-leadership

⁶ What are cognitive skills?

https://www.mindmattersjo.com/what-are-cognitive-skills.html

⁷ Ali Tamaseb, Super Founders, New York, New York, Hatchette Book Group, 2021, Page 49

⁸ Ibid., 53

 What further reading should you do?

What is learning? Koor and Associates

https://koorandassociates.org/creating-business-value/why-have-your-minimized-your-talent/

Is your company planning to fail? Koor and Associates

https://koorandassociates.org/avoiding-business-failure/is-your-company-planning-to-fail/

Appendix A What are the core skills that will be even more important in 2030 than 2025.

The following core skills are important in 2025 and will be even more important in 2030.  Who believes this? Over 1,000 global companies with over 14 million employees.  The following ranking reflects the % of companies that believe both core in 2025 and more important in 2020. ¹

• Analytical thinking
• Resilience, flexibility, and agility
• Leadership and social influence
• Creative thinking
• Technological literacy
• Curiosity and lifelong learning
• Talent management
• AI and big data
• Systems thinking

What are core skills required in 2025, but will not increase in importance in 2030?

The following ranking reflects the % of companies that believe both core in 2025 and 2030.¹

• Motivation and self awareness.
• Empathy and active listening.
• Service orientation and customer service.
• Resource management and operations.

How valuable are the core skills which will be more important in 2030?

Let’s use a simple example to show the value of core skills. Which of the two following two companies will be more successful?

Company A board of directors:

• Analytical thinking – jumps to conclusions with little evidence. Make decisions based on gut feelings and personal anecdotes.
• Resilience, flexibility, and agility – cannot deal with sudden unexpected changes in the business environment. Update the strategic plan once a year.
• Leadership and social influence – poor communications with shareholders, C-Suite, employees, etc.
• Creative thinking – relies on outdated mental models and past successes. Rejects new ideas because don’t fit the current way things are done. Focuses on minimizing risks.
• Technological literacy – don’t ask the specific problems technology investments will solve. Defer all technology decisions to one technical expert on the board. Do not use current technology, e.g. AI tools, to carry out their board duties.
• Curiosity and lifelong learning – little curiosity. Board decisions based on 10-year-old understanding of customer needs and solutions.
• Talent management – unable to determine talent requirements for a CEO who will be successful in an uncertain and turbulent future. Unable to assess CEO candidates for future success, resulting in poor CEO performance and company performance.
• AI and big data – not setting metrics for AI initiatives to directly impact value creation. Not understanding the AI talent, and talent compensation, required to drive competitively differentiated customer perceived value propositions.
• Systems thinking – focus on symptoms and not able to identify root causes. Cannot identity that their decisions will have follow-on reaction. Struggle to deal with complex and inter-related problems. The analogy is: if playing chess, don’t consider possible future moves, even the reaction to the first move.

Company B board of directors:

• Analytical thinking – asks for data, metrics, and assumption behind recommendations. Focus on metrics which drive value to customers, employees, and investors.
• Resilience, flexibility, and agility – Recognize that it is impossible to predict the future. Use scenario planning. Review and revise strategies whenever facts and assumptions change.
• Leadership and social influence – excellent communications with shareholders, C-Suite, employees, etc.
• Creative thinking – challenges the status quo and proactively seeks unconventional ideas.
• Technological literacy – questions focus on the customer and business impact of technology investments. Use current technology to carry out their board duties e.g. AI tools.
• Curiosity and lifelong learning – recognize that much of their own historical knowledge and experience is out of date. Regularly bring in experts to update the board. Takes advantage of the advisory board supporting the board. Continuous personal education to have current and relevant knowledge.
• Talent management – the board has long-term process to assess and develop successors for the CEO and C-suite. Company continues to succeed as CEOs and C-Suite members change.
• AI and big data – directors are using AI tools to challenge and validate what company leaders are telling the board.
• Systems thinking – recognizes that the company (directors, C-Suite, employees, customers, investors, etc.) exist in a complex inter-related ecosystem. Understands the interrelationships and how business success is impacted by this ecosystem. The analogy is: if playing chess, considers possible future moves, even the reaction to the first move.

ootnotes

¹ Future of Jobs Report 2025, World Economic Forum Jan 07, Page 41

https://www.weforum.org/publications/the-future-of-jobs-report-2025/