FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT THE TALENT CATALYST CONVERSATION
The Talent Catalyst Conversation Guide, in chapter 2, provides the core information you need to conduct a Conversation — narrative, questions, and cues for the Catalyst. The following frequently asked questions and answers provide opportunities for both the Talent Catalyst and the participant to delve more deeply into the dynamics of the steps and ways to navigate issues that may arise.
Round I: Enliven Your Hopes
Step 1: Connect with Your Hopes
What if the participant isn’t clear about her or his hopes?
Some people may not be clear about their hopes. After all, it’s not every day that people are asked about them! However, that’s the freshness and value of the question. So, take some time together to explore and listen. If the Talent Catalyst doesn’t see real energy or enthusiasm arising in response to the question, inquire further about what is important to the participant.
Some people fear expressing their hopes because they don’t know whether other people would support them and whether their hopes are achievable. In short, fears block them. That’s why we ask participants only to express why their hopes are important to them. We don’t ask them to explain their choices or defend whether or how they might accomplish them. The steps in Rounds II and III will help them to find pathways.
Couldn’t participants simply write down their hopes on their own?
While participants could write down hopes on their own, experience shows that the presence of an attentive Talent Catalyst truly activates deeper, more powerful insights. If participants keep cycling on their current perspectives, they’ll get into deeper ruts rather than broader thinking and fresh perspectives.
Step 2: Consider Your Concerns
Why is this step about concerns in the “Enliven Your Hopes” round?
People typically see concerns as obstacles to realizing their hopes. In a Talent Catalyst Conversation, however, concerns actually become another tool to help participants tap their talents. Just as Sherlock Holmes, when confronted with a seemingly unsolvable mystery, might say, “The game’s afoot,” we might say, “Aha! A concern … what a great opportunity! I get to use my talent to deal with this one.”
How can repeating or paraphrasing the gist of what the participant says be of value?
Often, people can’t see or sort through all the issues and obstacles by themselves. When the Talent Catalyst reflects back what he or she is hearing, it helps the participant to see himself or herself more clearly. In addition, sometimes people need to talk to figure out what they think. Everything in their mind is such a jumble of facts, fears, and frustrations that they can’t see the forest for the trees.
Most people have the capacity to solve problems when they have a clear understanding of the issue. If they feel stymied or something has festered for a long time, it’s likely that there’s some other issue or concern that needs attention first. That’s what generous listening will help to uncover.
What if the participant’s concern seems unfounded or could easily be resolved?
The Talent Catalyst must avoid the temptation to jump in and begin to either cajole or console the person. You can’t be an effective catalyst if you become consumed in the chemistry. Thus far, the Talent Catalyst has not interjected his or her own views and ideas into the Conversation. If the Catalyst had, she or he would be taking over control and responsibility for the participant before either understanding the participant’s perspectives or giving the participant the opportunity to take charge on her or his own.
Step 3: Tap Your Success Stories
Does the success story need to relate directly to the participant’s current issue?
No. The purpose here is to link concerns and successes. The Talent Catalyst invites the participant to look for patterns that have worked in the past. Some people try to jump from problem to solution. However, that’s like flipping the switch on a pump and expecting water to gush forth. This step ensures that there is water in the pump (the participant’s prior successes). Thus, instead of coughing and sputtering when it starts, the pump begins smoothly and successfully.
What if a success story doesn’t come to mind for the participant?
Sometimes people feel so stymied by past problems that their storehouse of successes remains inaccessible. In this case, the Talent Catalyst could ask the participant if she or he would like the Talent Catalyst to offer one. Of course, the Talent Catalyst may not know the participant personally, so the story may be an inspiring account about someone else. Asking permission to provide input ensures that the participant retains responsibility and feels comfortable with the Talent Catalyst sharing.
What if the Talent Catalyst can’t think of any relevant success stories, either?
No worries. The Talent Catalyst doesn’t need to be a warehouse of wisdom. The Talent Catalyst and participant could take a few minutes to pick a success story from someone else or invent one. Alternatively, they could simply proceed to the next step. Although there is a certain order to the questions in the Talent Catalyst Conversation, the process is often nonlinear. The Talent Catalyst might say something like “That’s OK. Let’s move on to the next questions and see how they can help you.” A great answer to the success story question might occur in the discussion about resources or putting together a team.
Round II: Expand Your Opportunities
Step 4: Identify Opportunities to Learn, Grow, and Develop
What kinds of learning, growth, and development are we talking about here?
It’s important to inquire about not only the subject matter to be learned but also the changes in behavior and relationships accompanying the growth that a participant seeks. Often, it’s a skill to be developed, like listening, or an inner shift, some inner quality that a participant needs to develop further. After all, with a few keystrokes, a participant can quickly find needed subject matter information on the Internet. Developing skills and boosting inner qualities such as curiosity or assertiveness can yield greater advantage.
Where can we find resources to explore topics like inner qualities?
Chapter 5 provides specific exercises to help you pursue this and other areas of growth and development.
What if neither the participant nor the Talent Catalyst can think of particular resources?
If no resources come to mind, invite the participant to think about the resources that other people may have who are dealing with similar issues. Are there ways to access the kind of people, places, and things that those people have found useful?
How can the participant broaden awareness and development of relevant resources?
Check out the “100 Resource Challenge” in chapter 5, in the section “Your Resource Power-Up.” It provides a structure to identify more resources and to use the resources more fully.
Step 6: Revisit Your Hopes
Why does this step have the participants revisit their hopes? Isn’t this redundant because they expressed their hopes in step 1?
While the Talent Catalyst Conversation proceeds in a step-wise manner, it guides participants to explore and grow in the process. When participants first talk about their hopes, their hopes may be rather abstract or more about the direction they think they ought to pursue or what others have done. That’s why this step helps not only to reenergize participants before they move into action but also to clarify what’s important and, therefore, what actions will serve them best. Sometimes, participants even come to a deeper understanding about themselves and their situation that prompts them to shift their hopes.
How can a Talent Catalyst help the participant to reach a deeper level?
Listen for the participant’s energy and interest. A Talent Catalyst can serve as a thermometer to measure what’s hot for a participant. When you think you’ve heard the participant hit on a “hot” topic, reflect back what you hear. The Talent Catalyst’s attention will help the participant to establish an even deeper foundation for action. Likewise, if the Talent Catalyst hears the words but doesn’t sense the emotional and physical congruency with them, the Talent Catalyst reflects that to the participant.
Round III: Energize Yourself through Actions
Step 7: Make a Healthy Stretch
What if the participant can’t think of a healthy stretch, and one doesn’t come to mind for the Talent Catalyst?
Remember, the Talent Catalyst isn’t the answer person. It’s perfectly fine for the Talent Catalyst to ask, “How might the success story you shared with me and the opportunities you noted come together to offer a chance for you to stretch?”
Participants frequently focus on the obstacles and lose track of how they could access what’s right in front of them and what has already worked for them. The Talent Catalyst can bring these strands together and precipitate new possibilities.
Keep in mind that for some people a healthy stretch may mean taking a leap forward, while for others it might mean pulling back from an unhealthy situation and taking better care of themselves.
The first sections of chapter 6 offer further guidance on how to frame and pursue rewarding stretches.
How does the Talent Catalyst navigate the fine line between being supportive and pushing?
The Talent Catalyst has a critical role of supporting the participant’s hopes and the truth about the situation. The Catalyst doesn’t tell the participant what to do or press for one choice over another.
Has the participant demonstrated readiness to stretch but not acknowledged it? The Talent Catalyst can invite the participant to contemplate living her or his hopes now. What might that look like?
An effective Talent Catalyst maintains a fine balance of supporting the participant in taking action without getting too personally involved in the process. If the participant remains in charge of her or his choices and appears engaged and energized, the Talent Catalyst has hit the right balance. If the participant demonstrates resistance, or if it’s only the Talent Catalyst who wants to see the participant take a particular action, the Talent Catalyst has stepped over the line.
Step 8: Enlist a Talent Fulfillment Team for Results
What if the participant doesn’t know some of the people who would be ideal?
Don’t let the “how” block your identification of the “who.” Talent Fulfillment Teams have power. The teams can lift participants up when they are discouraged and open doors and opportunities to help participants realize their hopes.
Research results indicate that people in the United States typically can connect with fewer than six friendship links. If they optimize the connection paths, the degrees of separation diminish to approximately three.1 Existing members of a participant’s Talent Fulfillment Team can help reduce the number of links needed and facilitate connections.
Would they agree to help?
When participants express and share their deepest hopes, other people feel a strong attraction toward helping them. See the section “Enlist Your Talent Fulfillment Team” in chapter 6 for stories and examples of ways to secure your star players.
Step 9: Target Concrete Actions
What’s the right amount and timing of actions?
Even if the first action that the participant mentions sounds like a winner, the Talent Catalyst encourages him or her to consider additional possibilities. Choices give people a sense of power. Also, choices keep people from getting stuck pursuing something that looked good but doesn’t prove fruitful. The Talent Catalyst confirms with the participant that the participant has a workable set of actions.
Step 10: Reflect on Your Possibilities and Progress
What’s reasonable to expect from the Conversation?
Most Conversations have major, lasting impacts. When participants engage their constructive thinking to uncover their hopes, identify opportunities, and take actions, they overcome obstacles and move forward. The Conversations are truly catalytic and precipitate immediate actions and near-term results.
What if no major breakthroughs occur during a Talent Catalyst Conversation? Does it mean that the participant and Talent Catalyst didn’t do a good job together?
No. Sometimes a Talent Catalyst Conversation plants seeds that take time to sprout. They may not germinate during the Conversation itself. We’ve had Conversations in which it wasn’t clear during the Conversation whether the Conversation would have lasting value for the participant. Strikingly, we often hear later from such participants about new job responsibilities, better working relationships, and deeper fulfillment that they have experienced. How much of those results can be attributed to the Talent Catalyst Conversations and how much resulted from other factors? Again, the Talent Catalyst Conversations have the effect of activating reactions and results. They rely on the participants’ accessing the resources and opportunities. Therefore, some participants need to let the roots take hold before solutions grow.