A Talent Plus Person...

Beyond Talent, by John C. Maxwell, continues the long line of leadership books written by the internationally recognized expert. The book was originally released in 2007; however, it has been updated and re-released in 2011. If you have ever read Maxwell, then you immediately know the type, style, and format of this book. He has the ability to make complexity rather simple.

The thesis of Beyond Talent remains as valuable today as it was several years ago. Extraordinary results do not merely originate from a talented individual because we all know people that possess tremendous talent that did not produce as predicted. Talent is an asset, but it is not the most important one. As Maxwell clearly states on page 7: “The key choices you make – apart from the natural talent you already have – will set you apart from others who have talent alone.” In other words, hard work earns success and relying upon anything else will result in underperformance.

I must confess that, at the time of this review, I have not yet finished the entire book. The rationale is rather simplistic in that any reader must go through this manuscript slowly but deeply. Each chapter concludes with a series of questions that take mere words or ideas from the page and force a reader to wrestle with the content. The questions, in a sense, are the formulation of a personal action plan to remove personal dependence on talent. I highly suggest that you open a free account with Evernote so that you can access your comments from any computer or via a smart-phone. In doing so, date your comments because this allows you to read through Beyond Talent in the future and see whether or not you have made progress.



Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”