Recently, I had the opportunity to deliver a topic at a business conference in London. Where I shared my thoughts on a subject that has become increasingly vital in today’s competitive landscape: How to Identify and Develop Top Talent: Lessons from Sports and Business. Whether you’re building a Premier League football team or a world-class business, the principles of scouting, recruitment, and development are remarkably similar.
How to Identify and Develop Top Talent: Lessons from Sports and Business
Lessons from Elite Sports: The Art of Scouting
Think about some of the best football clubs in the world—Manchester City, Real Madrid. Their success isn’t by chance; it starts with an intricate scouting process. These clubs have entire teams dedicated to finding raw talent before shaping them into elite players. A name that comes to mind is Juni Calafat at Real Madrid, a genius in talent scouting, particularly in South America. He identified talents like Vinícius Jr., Rodrygo, and Fede Valverde. These players come into one of the most prestigious clubs in the world, facing immense expectations but are met with world-class facilities, training, and development programs.
In business, the process is similar. Our recruitment strategy mirrors this scouting process—we find talent, assess their potential, and bring them into an environment where they can thrive. But recruiting top talent is just the first step. To truly succeed, we must also develop and nurture that talent, ensuring they meet and exceed their potential. Just as these football stars don’t rest after signing contracts, neither do top professionals. Companies that are at the forefront of their industries, like Google, don’t just hire the best—they constantly invest in developing their employees to stay at the top.
Identifying Talent: It Starts in the Interview Room
Before we can develop talent, we need to identify it. This begins with the interview process. Just like Real Madrid’s scouting department, our recruitment teams need to be aligned and consistent in the message they’re presenting. We can’t afford to attract talent with one image, only to show them something different once they’re inside. If the reality of the job doesn’t match the image projected during recruitment, we risk losing top talent before they’ve even started.
In an interview, every detail matters—how engaged the candidate is, their background, their questions, their professionalism, and even whether they show up on time for a virtual meeting. These are all indicators of whether they have the drive and qualities we are looking for.
Developing Talent: More Than Just Training
Once talent is identified and brought into the team, the real work begins—development. Our role as leaders is to guide and nurture our people, much like a coach does with an athlete. The goal is to create an environment that not only allows them to succeed but actively pushes them toward it.
- Culture and Image: A positive, inclusive culture is crucial. You have to create an atmosphere that attracts people from all walks of life—diversity breeds innovation. Think about the best football teams in the world. They don’t just sign local talent; they attract the best from all over the globe. Similarly, your business culture must be something people want to be part of. It needs to be aspirational, something bigger than just a job.
- Hands-on Leadership: Just as athletes need clear direction on how to improve their performance, so do your team members. When you show people how to achieve success—whether it’s making money, reaching personal goals, or progressing in their career—you give them the roadmap to follow. And in turn, you develop a team that not only performs well but can also outperform you.
- Atmosphere & Engagement: Development doesn’t just happen in formal settings. Much of it happens in the day-to-day atmosphere of the workplace—during meetings, in car rides to client sites, at crew nights. Every interaction is an opportunity to develop someone. This is where a strong atmosphere comes into play. The energy and engagement you create in your daily operations can make or break talent development. It’s about creating a supportive and motivating environment that pushes people to be their best, every day.
- Vision and Opportunity: People need to see a clear vision for their future. Just like a footballer dreams of winning trophies, your team members need to see the opportunity for growth, both personally and professionally. Your role as a leader is to make that vision clear and accessible.
- Relatability and Networking: The best leaders don’t just develop people through formal training. They share their own stories and experiences to inspire others. By promoting other people’s success stories and being relatable, you create a culture of belief. If someone sees that you or someone similar to them has succeeded, they’ll be more likely to believe they can too.
The Law of the Lid: Your Growth Defines Your Team’s Growth
One of the key takeaways I shared at the conference comes from John C. Maxwell’s The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership. The first law, The Law of the Lid, states that the success of a team is limited by the leader’s ability. As leaders, our growth sets the ceiling for our team’s potential. If we aren’t continuously developing ourselves, we’re placing a lid on the growth of our people.
Maxwell says, “The greater the impact you want to make, the greater your influence needs to be“. This resonates deeply with me. To grow a strong, talented team, we need to push our own limits as leaders. Every interaction, every retrain session, every interview has the potential to unlock greatness. Not just in the person we’re developing, but in ourselves as well.
Final Thoughts: It’s About People, Not Just Processes
Ultimately, identifying and developing top talent isn’t about ticking boxes on a recruitment checklist. It’s about finding people who have the potential to be great and creating an environment where that greatness can flourish. As leaders, we have the unique opportunity to not just scout talent but to nurture it and guide it toward long-term success.
If we fail to do that—if we aren’t investing in our people’s growth. We’re not just losing out on talent; we’re losing out on future leaders, future partners, and future successes.
So let’s focus on developing ourselves, raising our own leadership lid, and creating the kind of culture where top talent not only wants to join but thrives.
How to Identify and Develop Top Talent: Lessons from Sports and Business
