Session 4: Talent

To me, Benedict Cumberbatch is unique and amazing actor.  The variety of roles that he has played astounds me.  From Imitation Game (playing a mathematician code breaker) to Star Trek to Doctor Strange, Cumberbatch has a breadth of talent.  A friend of mine studied acting with him in London 25 years ago and told me that even back then, Cumberbatch’s talent was admired by his peers.  Sometimes we may wonder what luck or break sprung someone to success, but it appears that his success is based on his skillful work.

In spite of my desire to act in a play at Sierra Rep (probably a Rogers & Hammerstein musical such as Oklahoma or My Fair Lady), I have never worked to develop this talent.  Malcolm Gladwell has suggested (but the research varies) that it takes 10,000 hours of concentrated practice to develop an expertise in something.  Since that’s the equivalent of 5 years of full-time work, get started now!

We’ve all known people with a natural talent for something.  Typically we look at someone with a public talent such as singing, athletics or acting and can see the talent at work.  What about quieter talents?  We should not discount them in others or in ourselves.

This week, let’s dive into talent.  Let’s identify, value and celebrate them.  Let’s consider which ones we want to develop.  

• Take a free Enneagram profile.  I suggest: https://www.truity.com/test/enneagram-personality-test  Take it in 15-20 minutes and use your reflexive responses to the prompts.  This is most likely to produce accuracy.

• Get your Strengthsfinder handy (or take it for $20 here: https://store.gallup.com/p/en-us/10108/top-5-cliftonstrengths).  If you want to dig a little deeper, you can consider the Clifton 34 strengths profile.

• Download these questions and the chart and prep for next cohort.  Print, add some thoughts and email me the chart.  We will walk through each person’s chart during the call.  https://16fec6de-4436-4cbe-8e18-167ba16f8e0c.usrfiles.com/ugd/16fec6_ece73fc0f3d94403ab042c35f8c1fe3e.pdf