It’s Not about Caliber People

When venture capitalists look into investing in a new business, it’s not the startup’s business model or business plan that makes the biggest impression or difference. Absolutely both are important. However, it’s the startup’s team VCs closely evaluate.

Why the sharp focus on talent? It’s the team’s talent that will make the business model come together. The business model is worth nothing on paper. VCs know it’s the team’s talent, experience, and motivation that will turn the good idea into a worthy capital investment.

Let’s map this logic to corporations.

Chances are your company is elbowing its way through an already crowded marketplace. You’re vying for just a little more attention than what your competitor gets. To stand out your company creates and recreates its strategy.

21st century leaders are more interested in leveraging the talent they have to make their strategy come to life. These leaders aren’t enamored with their brilliantly concocted strategy if it can’t be executed by their employees.

And that’s the rub. If employees aren’t prepared for shifts in the company’s direction, then the battle is already lost. Somewhere along the way a whole lot of managers collectively put their heads down and ignored acquiring AND developing talent to meet the complexities of today’s business challenges.

Who cares about caliber of people if they aren’t positioned to unleash their talents.

Far too many CEOs do little more than a cursory glance at employees’ talents, experiences, and motivations needed to turn strategy into profit. And the outcome? A strategic plan that is merely shelfware.

So, where do we stand with this parallel between VCs and CEOs views on leveraging talent?

As we hear more stories about companies bleeding institutional knowledge as Boomers retire, we need to see more CEOs place a higher importance on human capital investments. And we need to see more synchronicity between strategy and leveraging human capital.

graphic by Shawn Murphy