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Talent Mindset
TALENT MINDSET reaches out and pulls business owners in. Feiner levels with them and provides a winning system that solves people problems and inspires business owners to set a talent strategy that engages talent across the enterprise. This book puts strategic talent management tools into the hands of owners to ensure that talent is their competitive advantage. Ultimately, it's essential to know your people as well as you know your numbers.
- GenresBusiness
169 pages, Hardcover
First published March 9, 2015
158 people want to read
About the author
Stacy Feiner
6 books7 followersDr. Stacy Feiner is an executive coach for the middle market. Stacy brings psychological strategies to business owners helping them improve their performance, advance their organizations, and achieve the success they want and deserve.
Stacy addresses complex dynamics within owner-operated companies, family businesses, management teams and boards. Her methodology solves people problems, clearing the way for driving strategy, growing profitability, and eventually transitioning to the next generation.
Dr. Feiner earned her doctorate in clinical psychology from the Illinois School for Professional Psychology, MS from Northeastern University, and BA from Hobart & William Smith Colleges. Stacy is a licensed psychologist, executive coach, author and national speaker.
Stacy addresses complex dynamics within owner-operated companies, family businesses, management teams and boards. Her methodology solves people problems, clearing the way for driving strategy, growing profitability, and eventually transitioning to the next generation.
Dr. Feiner earned her doctorate in clinical psychology from the Illinois School for Professional Psychology, MS from Northeastern University, and BA from Hobart & William Smith Colleges. Stacy is a licensed psychologist, executive coach, author and national speaker.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
March 13, 2015
As a gardener naturally I enjoy finding that special "something" in someone and bringing it to fruition. This isn't easy and from time to time I have really wanted a "garden plan" to help. I finally found one in Stacy Feiner's new book Talent Mindset: The business owners guide to building bench strength. What I love about this gem is the passion that Stacy brings in addressing the need to identify great talent, foster it, and bring a new mindset to organizations. Our people really are our foundation and we need to ingrain this in our company culture. I particularly enjoy that Stacy's book is geared towards business owners and small businesses that really have a stake in having strong talent in order to survive.
Feiner is clearly passionate about the importance of talent development to the survival of an organization. Moreover, she is adamant that this isn't just an HR responsibility; it's every body's job in the company. Most importantly the owner/CEO must have a stake and invested interest in the road map detailing how this process can be done and how critical it is. The entire talent concept is deeply embedded within a company culture. She presents ideas that form a completed puzzle and plan which involves 9 interlocking "pieces" called Center's of Excellence. These Center's are organized into 3 corridors: Acquisition, Development, and Deployment. These corridors tend to give leaders the most "people pain" that seem to never go away. The Centers of Excellence enable a company to optimize talent, grow, lead for the future, and to find talent and successors for the company.
It's up to the owner/CEO to own and steer the process of a company's talent and strategy. It's this leader who has the ability to change the culture and really make finding and developing new talent a key variable in the culture long term. Moreover, some owners may have succession concerns and many don't like to think about the future or acknowledging that they are the key to making talent a priority in order to continually build the business. Feiner interjects that "A players look for A Companies" and that means owners must be at the helm of a complete human capital plan to bring in, grow, and develop talent. Ultimately a company shines with excellence when it attracts top performers, invests in them, has a rotating path for growth and providing greater opportunities. "Selection is a high form of risk management". Companies that turn a blind eye to risks don't stay in business very long. Are you ignoring your talent pool and development plans? Do you have a plan for growth?
I love how Stacy encourages companies to engage new team members with enthusiasm. She stresses that energy needs to be high and off running immediately. Rolling out the red carpet is a must for newbies. The goal is to "accelerate productivity and generate energy". It's expensive to bring in new people and more expensive to lose them. Don't let it happen. Stacy champions the corridor of "development". Look at individual learning styles, level of the team member, their experience. Don't use a one approach fits all mentality. Owners need to instill a feeling of collaboration, continuous learning, and empowerment in employee development. He or she must set the tone for continued learning and cross training. You can't just stop there. You need to fold feedback and coaching into the organization as well. Training isn't a onetime trip. It's continuous, requires conversations, and feedback must go back and forth. Growing people is like growing plants - give them what they need to grow and look out!
Perhaps the most important area for family businesses is the need to have leaders waiting in the wings to jump in the leadership seat when the time comes. Call it anything that you want but a lack of succession planning can sink a company with a few years - or sooner. Feiner emphasizes that talent has to be identified, nurtured, challenged, competitive, and be offered expanded roles every 3 years. Creating "multiple layers" of talent is critical for future leaders and family owned businesses must bring outsiders in to help fill the talent pipeline. It's critical to have the right people in the right place and maintain a "deep bench of talent". People are tools and capital to bring growth and stability. Smart companies have programs in place to develop and "deploy" people throughout the organization. Don't be the leader that lets the pipe run dry or allows talented people to run off.
One of my favorite chapters in Stacy's book speaks to the importance of employee engagement. Once you have lead or worked in a company where people are engaged and the culture is strong, you can't imagine how the bottom line is impacted. Not only is it a people impact, it directly impacts profitability. The quote "Leaders of organizations are stewarding a cause, not just a company" gives me chills. People depend so much on their professions to support their families, for personal growth, lasting friendships and engagement, and their future. Providing a great "growing" environment really sets the tone for unbridled growth and a nurturing culture. Engagement is a "building block" of culture. It grants an immense competitive advantage in the marketplace. It envelops everyone and encourages employees to take ownership of their roles, individual talents, and champion’s growth. Employees are a company's brand and they need to be nurtured and cared for.
I highly recommend Stacy Feiner's book Talent Mindset particularly if you are a company owner or if you have even a little finger in finding or developing new talent. The book offers numerous real life examples of companies and leaders who have struggled with "talent pain" and have had proven success using Stacy's strategic system. People are so important to the growth and survival of any business. Pick up Stacy's book today to guide you down the path of growing and cultivating your talent!
Just as with seeds we all have a responsibility to provide what our people need to grow and develop. Tender seedlings quickly wilt and perish if they are neglected. Can you afford to let your team do the same?
Feiner is clearly passionate about the importance of talent development to the survival of an organization. Moreover, she is adamant that this isn't just an HR responsibility; it's every body's job in the company. Most importantly the owner/CEO must have a stake and invested interest in the road map detailing how this process can be done and how critical it is. The entire talent concept is deeply embedded within a company culture. She presents ideas that form a completed puzzle and plan which involves 9 interlocking "pieces" called Center's of Excellence. These Center's are organized into 3 corridors: Acquisition, Development, and Deployment. These corridors tend to give leaders the most "people pain" that seem to never go away. The Centers of Excellence enable a company to optimize talent, grow, lead for the future, and to find talent and successors for the company.
It's up to the owner/CEO to own and steer the process of a company's talent and strategy. It's this leader who has the ability to change the culture and really make finding and developing new talent a key variable in the culture long term. Moreover, some owners may have succession concerns and many don't like to think about the future or acknowledging that they are the key to making talent a priority in order to continually build the business. Feiner interjects that "A players look for A Companies" and that means owners must be at the helm of a complete human capital plan to bring in, grow, and develop talent. Ultimately a company shines with excellence when it attracts top performers, invests in them, has a rotating path for growth and providing greater opportunities. "Selection is a high form of risk management". Companies that turn a blind eye to risks don't stay in business very long. Are you ignoring your talent pool and development plans? Do you have a plan for growth?
I love how Stacy encourages companies to engage new team members with enthusiasm. She stresses that energy needs to be high and off running immediately. Rolling out the red carpet is a must for newbies. The goal is to "accelerate productivity and generate energy". It's expensive to bring in new people and more expensive to lose them. Don't let it happen. Stacy champions the corridor of "development". Look at individual learning styles, level of the team member, their experience. Don't use a one approach fits all mentality. Owners need to instill a feeling of collaboration, continuous learning, and empowerment in employee development. He or she must set the tone for continued learning and cross training. You can't just stop there. You need to fold feedback and coaching into the organization as well. Training isn't a onetime trip. It's continuous, requires conversations, and feedback must go back and forth. Growing people is like growing plants - give them what they need to grow and look out!
Perhaps the most important area for family businesses is the need to have leaders waiting in the wings to jump in the leadership seat when the time comes. Call it anything that you want but a lack of succession planning can sink a company with a few years - or sooner. Feiner emphasizes that talent has to be identified, nurtured, challenged, competitive, and be offered expanded roles every 3 years. Creating "multiple layers" of talent is critical for future leaders and family owned businesses must bring outsiders in to help fill the talent pipeline. It's critical to have the right people in the right place and maintain a "deep bench of talent". People are tools and capital to bring growth and stability. Smart companies have programs in place to develop and "deploy" people throughout the organization. Don't be the leader that lets the pipe run dry or allows talented people to run off.
One of my favorite chapters in Stacy's book speaks to the importance of employee engagement. Once you have lead or worked in a company where people are engaged and the culture is strong, you can't imagine how the bottom line is impacted. Not only is it a people impact, it directly impacts profitability. The quote "Leaders of organizations are stewarding a cause, not just a company" gives me chills. People depend so much on their professions to support their families, for personal growth, lasting friendships and engagement, and their future. Providing a great "growing" environment really sets the tone for unbridled growth and a nurturing culture. Engagement is a "building block" of culture. It grants an immense competitive advantage in the marketplace. It envelops everyone and encourages employees to take ownership of their roles, individual talents, and champion’s growth. Employees are a company's brand and they need to be nurtured and cared for.
I highly recommend Stacy Feiner's book Talent Mindset particularly if you are a company owner or if you have even a little finger in finding or developing new talent. The book offers numerous real life examples of companies and leaders who have struggled with "talent pain" and have had proven success using Stacy's strategic system. People are so important to the growth and survival of any business. Pick up Stacy's book today to guide you down the path of growing and cultivating your talent!
Just as with seeds we all have a responsibility to provide what our people need to grow and develop. Tender seedlings quickly wilt and perish if they are neglected. Can you afford to let your team do the same?
March 10, 2015
Creating the best workplaces possible for everyone is a hot topic button of mine, as we often spend more time at work, than we do with loved ones. It starts with creating a learning environment, where businesses develop and grow employees. The people you surround yourself with in your organization make or break your success. Dr. Stacy Feiner's new book, Talent Mindset, provides you with the tools you need to assess your current talent, find out what you may be missing and then work on coming up with a plan to fill any gaps that you may have and develop the talent you currently have. With so much discussion around the 'war on talent' in the news all organizations can benefit from Stacy's book.
March 15, 2015
You know the book is good when my inclination is to simply and literally reproduce as much of it as I can in a blog post and say “First, read this excerpt … Second, buy the book and read some more … Third, Go live out what you have read.”
The ability to clearly and directly explain concepts is not a natural state for all authors, but Dr. Feiner has the gift.
Early on, Dr. Feiner nails the business owner by emphasizing the importance of self-awareness. Owners and leaders who believe they can influence from afar or remain aloof from the machinery of their business will be challenged to think differently about how they impact employees and the business. Even a decision to be “hands-off” has impact.
The book is organized so that you first get a good feel for the entire process of Talent Management. The point is made early on that Talent Management has nine distinct, but interlocked elements which Stacy describes as Centers of Excellence, which she organizes carefully into three “corridors”: Acquisition, Development, and Deployment.
I have not experienced a clearer description of the people management process …
Dr. Feiner then goes into rich detail, not about how to actually do each element, but what we should be trying to achieve in those elements and how it all fits together. Her examples are carefully chosen, not to be duplicated, but to illustrate the points she makes about the goals for each element.
Sharing what ought to drive our decisions at each point is more valuable to most of us than the prescriptive approach taken by some other business titles, where we are told to do what apparently worked at another organization, usually a much bigger one.
My experience is that even the best ideas have to be adapted somewhat to your unique organizational situation. The trick is to do so without surrendering to the current culture, which will resist change. Dr. Feiner gives us powerful help to accomplish this.
This is a book about how to do every important element in the people process for a business. While it aims at middle-sized companies and their owners/leaders, I believe that even very small and very large businesses will learn valuable perspectives and practices which they can use.
Talent Mindset does cover the process of Talent Development very well, but goes on to outline a business leader philosophy which goes way beyond just talent. Like other truly valuable titles, this one looks at the topic from a strategic viewpoint and moves from being a “How To” to a “Why Do This” approach.
Based on a quick skim, I would have been just as pleased with the other two major sections on Selection and Employee Engagement. Probably little in this book is really new to those of us who have worked in organizations, but Dr. Feiner clearly shows us how the process can work and the connections between those nine centers as we gain, grow, and help employees succeed.
This book emphasizes coaching throughout for the business owner and leader, but especially in the area of leadership development. That one point alone is enough to convince me that once again, a book can provide value and help you grow as a leader.
If you care about making your Talent Management system drive the business success of your organization while also meeting employee needs and addressing core business challenges, you will read and use Talent Mindset to make your desires into reality. Loving this addition to my working library.
The ability to clearly and directly explain concepts is not a natural state for all authors, but Dr. Feiner has the gift.
Early on, Dr. Feiner nails the business owner by emphasizing the importance of self-awareness. Owners and leaders who believe they can influence from afar or remain aloof from the machinery of their business will be challenged to think differently about how they impact employees and the business. Even a decision to be “hands-off” has impact.
The book is organized so that you first get a good feel for the entire process of Talent Management. The point is made early on that Talent Management has nine distinct, but interlocked elements which Stacy describes as Centers of Excellence, which she organizes carefully into three “corridors”: Acquisition, Development, and Deployment.
I have not experienced a clearer description of the people management process …
Dr. Feiner then goes into rich detail, not about how to actually do each element, but what we should be trying to achieve in those elements and how it all fits together. Her examples are carefully chosen, not to be duplicated, but to illustrate the points she makes about the goals for each element.
Sharing what ought to drive our decisions at each point is more valuable to most of us than the prescriptive approach taken by some other business titles, where we are told to do what apparently worked at another organization, usually a much bigger one.
My experience is that even the best ideas have to be adapted somewhat to your unique organizational situation. The trick is to do so without surrendering to the current culture, which will resist change. Dr. Feiner gives us powerful help to accomplish this.
This is a book about how to do every important element in the people process for a business. While it aims at middle-sized companies and their owners/leaders, I believe that even very small and very large businesses will learn valuable perspectives and practices which they can use.
Talent Mindset does cover the process of Talent Development very well, but goes on to outline a business leader philosophy which goes way beyond just talent. Like other truly valuable titles, this one looks at the topic from a strategic viewpoint and moves from being a “How To” to a “Why Do This” approach.
Based on a quick skim, I would have been just as pleased with the other two major sections on Selection and Employee Engagement. Probably little in this book is really new to those of us who have worked in organizations, but Dr. Feiner clearly shows us how the process can work and the connections between those nine centers as we gain, grow, and help employees succeed.
This book emphasizes coaching throughout for the business owner and leader, but especially in the area of leadership development. That one point alone is enough to convince me that once again, a book can provide value and help you grow as a leader.
If you care about making your Talent Management system drive the business success of your organization while also meeting employee needs and addressing core business challenges, you will read and use Talent Mindset to make your desires into reality. Loving this addition to my working library.
July 28, 2015
The book does a great job of describing why one needs to develop a talent mindset when building an organization and lays out a plan that can be adapted to specific company structure and status. It made me realize the importance of talent and how to identify it, nurture it and help it grow. I found a good framework to guide my thinking on multiple areas associated with growing a company and maintaining a healthy culture.
Having read it at a time when I am building my own company I found the book useful in terms of advice on how to fix problems in an existing system but lacking in terms of how to not let those problems crop up in the first place. To be fair, the first third of the book does talk about how to initiate the process and build on it but the rest of the book talks more about how to mend the broken than about how to build with minimum flaws.
Having read it at a time when I am building my own company I found the book useful in terms of advice on how to fix problems in an existing system but lacking in terms of how to not let those problems crop up in the first place. To be fair, the first third of the book does talk about how to initiate the process and build on it but the rest of the book talks more about how to mend the broken than about how to build with minimum flaws.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews