Work or Talent: which generates better results?

First of all, we must remember that our behaviour is the result of what our thoughts are. What distinguishes a successful person is their ability to use their emotions and thoughts to their advantage.

I have no doubt that what impacts the quality of our life is the quality of our thoughts and the quality of our feelings.

“In every human action there are two arenas of play: the outer and the inner. The outer game is played in an outer arena to overcome external obstacles to reach an external goal. The inner game takes place inside the player’s mind and is played against obstacles such as fear, insecurity, lack of focus, and limiting concepts or assumptions. The inner game is played to overcome self-imposed obstacles that prevent the individual or team from accessing their full potential. @“The Inner Game of Tennis”, Timothy Gallwey

Talent or potential is something innate. We can say that it is something that is born with us. Either you have it or you don’t. However, if we look around us, we will always find two scenarios; one in which we have people with high talent and low results, and another in which people with a potential or talent said to be normal, or according to the average, achieve results greatly exceed those of others. Why?

Because talent alone is not enough! Action is needed, this talent, this innate aptitude, must be turned into results! It is the result of the difference between our potential/talent and our internal game, that will dictate our performance/action. It is the way any of us internally processes information resulting from external events. Therefore, performance is dependent on this internal game. It is a whole set of factors such as fear, insecurity, lack of focus or dispersed focus, and concepts of limitation or assumptions, most of them self-created and self-imposed, which, sustained and supported by our beliefs and values, will dictate the maximizing or limiting our performance.

I believe that we cannot dissociate talent and performance (performance, attitude, work). Both concepts are intertwined. I also believe that talent can only generate results if there is action. It’s useless to have something that is innate if we do not apply it. The attitude is what will materialize this talent. It’s repetition, training, it’s the predisposition to give the “extra mile”, to do what others don’t, that generates results.

In a business context, it is the improvement of strategies and rituals that leads us to take more risks in a better way, to make decisions in a more assertive, faster way. It is dedication, focus, commitment, discipline, consistency, and determination that generate excellent results.

We can look at this binomial of Talent vs. Work like the Leader; Are you born a leader, or do you become a leader? Undoubtedly, there are countless cases that, even at an early age, we can already observe traces of leadership. Within these cases, how many materialize into Leaders later? The same happens with the opposite, someone we have known since childhood and in whom we have never observed leadership characteristics, and who later surprises us with a brilliant career in sports or business, the result, above all, of his performance and his work.

Talent without Work doesn’t generate results. Work without Talent generates results. The same results? Most likely not, but with repetition, resilience, and persistence, even perhaps these same results could be identical or superior.

I believe that it is above all our Internal Game, what we decide to believe in and value, that will dictate the materialization of talent as a result and also the level of work, applied to talent, or lack of it. As with everything in life, it’s a matter of balance and goals.

As a Coach, most of the work is made up of questions, so here’s a question: what level of Work should I (or am I willing to apply) to maximize my Talent and achieve the results that I want?

Alexandra Outeiro
HR Specialist
ABC Sustainable Luxury Hospitality
Proud Ambassadors Global Wellness Institute