Sharing tips for choosing top talents

I WOULD like to share a method I designed for corporate leaders to use when recruiting top talents for their organisation. It is titled C.A.P.I to make for easy recall. I hope it will help in selecting the best leaders for Malaysia, especially our deputy prime minister(s) and ministers.

“C” for capacity: A person’s capacity is the basic foundation of his or her ability to deliver. No amount of training or exposure can bring out what is expected from a talent if he or she lacks the capacity. Like a car engine, capacity determines the ability to perform under different circumstances. The larger the capacity, the greater the propensity to deliver. We cannot expect a 1.0litre three-cylinder 96HP Perodua to deliver like a 4.6litre V8 310HP Lexus GX. When the leader fails, our country suffers.

“A” for achievement/performance:

True achievement is about results, not efforts, promises or words. Top talents focus their energies on where the results are, they make things happen, they deliver. They spend more time doing and delivering. They don’t talk as much as they do. When they talk, it is to engage people to perform. They want to get things done, make things right. They lead people to actions that are based on clear goals. We must choose leaders who can deliver.

“P” for people skills: Top talents deliver through working with and through people. They harness and focus the energy of others toward common goals. They are team leaders. Talents who prefer working alone are specialists and they are great support for top talents. Remember that we must choose talents who work with others in their effort to move up in an organisation, not rise up by stepping on them. The latter will cause disunity to the team.

In the Malaysian context, we must also choose leaders who are willing to listen and work with not just a particular race but every ethnic group and across the nation as well, care for those in urban as well as rural areas, and engage everybody including the young. In short, we must choose a leader who is with the rakyat, one who will work with us and care about our well-being, not their position and power.

“I” for integrity: Leadership must come with integrity; there is no compromise. Without integrity, talent is a liability. No matter how brilliant, knowledgeable or successful, lack of integrity disqualifies any and all talents from any leadership position. We must check their track record, like their propensity to lie or to practise double standards.

In short, in choosing our leaders, integrity is the final sift that must not be put aside no matter what.