Identifying Potential and Developing Talent

DESCRIPTION:

Identifying true “high potentials” continues to vex leaders in organizations both large and small.  Often the executives in most firms find it hard to even agree on the definition of potential, so it is no wonder that they struggle to figure out who has it.  If organizational leaders do correctly identify their high potentials, then what?  How do they maximize their development while not alienating the rest of the organization?

Our January program “Identifying Potential and Developing Talent” will be presented by David Weller, Ph.D., Principal of Leadership Alliance.  Using the 9-cell, performance potential matrix as a model, David will lead the group in a discussion exploring the differences between high professionals (technical experts) and high potentials and discuss why many people end up misclassified when using this or similar systems to identify talent. 

He will then explore the research on learning agility and make the case as to why learning agility is an essential component of being a true high potential.  Finally, David will present a case study incorporating lessons learned in rolling out a new talent management framework.   

PRESENTER

David Weller, Ph.D., Principal, Leadership Alliance, Inc.

Dr. David Weller is a principal and co-founder of Leadership Alliance, a human capital management consulting firm in St. Louis.  Originally from New York, David received his undergraduate and Master’s degrees in Psychology from the State University of New York at Albany.  He went on to earn his PhD. in Counseling Psychology at the University of Denver where he studied stress in the workplace.

David’s 20 years of experience in the field gives him unique insights into organizational talent development.  He focuses his practice on succession planning, high potential assessment and development, coaching, team-building and pre-employment testing.  He has assessed thousands of managers and executives helping companies hire, promote and develop a talented workforce.  As an associate of Korn/Ferry-Lominger, David helps bring the well-researched competency based tools of Lominger to his clients.

While he can’t answer the St. Louis question “where’d you go to high school, David has made St. Louis his home for the past 18 years.  When not working, David enjoys reading, sailing, skiing and spending time with his wife Karen and three children.