Talent Is Never Enough: Discover the Choices That Will Take You Beyond Your Talent

by John C. Maxwell

Book Overview

New York Times best-selling author Dr. John C. Maxwell has a message for you, and for today's corporate culture fixated on talent above all else: TALENT IS NEVER ENOUGH. People everywhere are proving him right. Read the headlines, watch the highlights, or just step out your front door: Some talented people reach their full potential, while others self-destruct or remain trapped in mediocrity. What makes the difference? Maxwell, the go-to guru for...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0785214038
• ISBN13: 9780785214038
• Release Date: January 2007
• Publisher: Nelson Business
• Length: 283 Pages
• Weight: 1.14 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 6.3" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

El Talento no es Suficiente

Cuantas veces haz pensado que solo con lo que sabes es suficiente para vivir hasta el final de la vida... Si eso crees es mejor que replantees tu visión y tambien que leas este libro. Citando una frase del mismo, lo mejor que se aprende y que vale es aquello que se aprende luego creer o saberlo todo, es alli donde empiezas lo mejor de tu vida !

How to become a "talent plus person"

I have read and then reviewed most of John Maxwell's previously published books and on occasion I became concerned that he was merely recycling some of the same core concepts he first examined years ago. In this volume, he asserts that "talent is never enough." If it were, "then the most effective and influential people would always be the most talented ones but that is often not the case...Clearly talent isn't everything." That said, he hastens to add, talent is worthy off our admiration and must be perceived in the proper perspective. For Maxwell, it is "a God-given gift." For others who do not share his faith, it is nonetheless usually referred to as a "natural" as opposed to an acquired capability. All human beings possess talent but differ in terms of number, nature, and extent of what Maxwell calls "giftedness." The challenge is to maximize one's talents. In this context, I am reminded of Darrell Royal's suggestion that "potential" means "you ain't done it yet." Maxwell has identified thirteen key choices that can be made to maximize one's talent. None is a head-snapping revelation, nor does he make any such claim. "Make these choices, and you can become a talent-plus person. If you have talent, you stand alone. If you have talent plus, you stand out." He devotes a separate chapter to each of the thirteen. Once again, as in most of his earlier works, he includes a number of especially apt quotations from what must be a substantial collection of what he has accumulated from various sources thus far. He also includes at the conclusion of each chapter a set of "Application Exercises." Maxwell fully understands that sustaining self-improvement initiatives involves a process, an extended journey, one that requires a compass, a map, and sufficient resources once begun. He is convinced (and I agree) that specificity is imperative: Goals must be written down, frequently reviewed, and when appropriate revised. Self-improvement must be results-driven. And, more often than not, improvement will be incremental. Maxwell insists that "belief lifts talent." Henry Ford once spoke to the same point when pointing out that "whether you think you can or think you can't, you're right." Without faith in what is possible, why bother? Passion energizes talent, initiative activates it, focus gives it direction, preparation positions talent properly, practices sharpens it, perseverance sustains it....and so the list of choices continues. Maxwell's key point is that all of us have a choice, actually several choices, and can determine to what extent (if any) we take full advantage of the talents we have, such as they are. He concluded with "The Last Word on Talent" (Pages 273-275), once again urging his reader to become a talent-plus person. "If you do, you will add value to yourself, add value to others, and accomplish much more than you dreamed was possible." Earlier, I expressed my concern that Maxwell would sometimes recycle some of his core concepts about

Talent is cheaper than table salt

PTSD: Pathways Through the Secret Door In John C. Maxwells book he gives very specific outlines and tools to maximize your talent. The stories and lessons learned here have assisted me greatly with breaking down barriers that have kept me from reaching my fullest potential

Find Your Highest Potential and Build on It

While the media likes to portray success as effortless, the reality is far different. Blood, sweat, and tears often accompany accomplishment. Dr. Maxwell does two unexpected things in this book that make it a valuable contribution to the success literature: 1. He points out that you may not know what your areas of greatest talent are and provides way to check out your thinking. 2. He provides many examples that powerfully reinforce the point that it's hard to succeed without talent . . . or without developing a potential talent. The negative examples are very telling and powerful. He also does one expected thing that's very helpful: He encourages you to test your thinking with those who know you well. It's hard to see yourself objectively so that's very good advice. Once you have focused in on an area where you have potential to develop talent, he offers 13 principles to emphasize which I have rephrased below: 1. Believe you will succeed. 2. Pursue your passions with your talent. 3. Take action rather than wait for the right moment. 4. Be focused. 5. Continually practice and improve. 6. Be prepared for the challenge before using your talent. 7. Never give up. 8. Build and rely on courage in facing challenges. 9. Be open to suggestions. 10. Honor what's right. 11. Build relationships with those you love, those you want to serve, and those whose help you need. 12. Be responsible in employing your talent. 13. Be a good team player. The most useful parts of the book come in the application exercises that accompany each of the 13 points. If you didn't read the book but did those exercises, you would gain most of the benefit of this book. So do those exercises! Bravo, Dr. Maxwell.

More than Potential

Talent is Never Enough. John C. Maxwell has a wonderful book entitled, Talent is Never Enough. Maxwell outlines thirteen characteristics which must be coupled with intelligence and talent in order to reach long-term success. Belief. Passion. Initiative. Focus. Preparation. Practice. Perserverance. Courage. Teachability. Character. Relationships. Responsibility. Teamwork. "You see, people who neglect to make the right choices to release and maximize their talent continually underperform. Their talent allows them to stand out, but their wrong choices make them sit down. Their friends, families, coaches and bosses see their giftedness, but they wonder why they so often come up short of expectations. Their talent gives them oppotunity, but their wrong choices shut the door. Talent is a given, but you must earn success." Ironically, there is a difference between underperformance and failure. Failure is actually a crucial part of long-term success. Underperformance is not. Maxwell mentions, "there are two kinds of people in this world: those who want to get things done and those who don't want to make mistakes." Believe in your talent. Passionately persue your talents. Initiate your dreams. And then learn from your mistakes. "One of the paradoxes of life is that the things that initially make you sucessful are rarely the things that keep you successful." This sentence is the premise and outline, the underlying message that sows the bound book together. Focus on your stregnths, never mistake fear for lack of preparation, practice, no rehearse each day as if it is your only opportunity. The most important section of Talent is Never Enough, is probably the section on Teachability. Too often talent comes with egos, and egos equipt with pride. Egoism and pride are often the strongest bariers to success. If a person can humble herself to learn from every person in their life, every circumstance of their condition, and every relationship, then one will find the people, the situations and the relationships that will help them build each of the 12 other characteristics of the talented success.