Many of us have seen various brazen young (or not so young) performers on televised talent programs break down into hysteria because the judges unanimously vote to reject them from the competition. Time and time again we wonder in amazement how this person could be so clueless as to how they believed they could win a singing competition when we’ve heard beagles sing better.
Well, I was one of those singers. Except I wasn’t a singer, but a trumpet player, and in reality, I wasn’t that bad. As a matter of fact. I was pretty good; and herein lies the root problem.
I was good because I worked hard at being a trumpet player.
Really hard.
Imagine spending 7 hours a day in a 2 X 2m2 practice room 6-7 days a week just to keep up with the others – and never exceeding them.
Years later I learned that one of my personality drivers was: Work hard, which explained a lot.
The comedian, Jimmy Carr, explains in this 12-second YouTube video whether it is incredible talent or hard work that wins the day.
In High School, I was the star musician — not difficult when you’re competing with a few hundred high schoolers. When I entered university, I realized very quickly that I wasn’t in Kansas anymore. I set out to work, and work, I did.
And yet, I never attained the virtuosity of the top stars. Not deterred, I continue my trumpet studies in Lund, Sweden where I studied with Bo Nilsson, who had been the teacher of some of the most successful trumpet players in Europe. That year was transformative for me and enabled me to receive graduate school offers from The University of Michigan and Yale, so I couldn’t have been that bad.
But really, I should have quit years before that. Looking back, I think that the only reason I didn’t quit was fear of being seen as a failure. Sure, I was passionate about trumpet playing, but not like my peers. For me, it was about the immense effect music had on me, but that didn’t make me more talented.
One question that lingers with me today, however, is why none of my professors sat me down and said, Michael, this is where I would put you on the scale with your peers. Let’s say they were nice and gave me a 4 out of 5. Keep in mind my peers had all elected trumpet playing their lifetime goal, so most of the clearly untalented bunch had already been culled.
This professor could then have continued and said, Why don’t you ask some of the other professors to give you their assessment because I could be wrong, in which case you might study with someone else, or it could lead you to a new path?
In all honesty, I was secretly waiting for one of my professors to do just that. Today, I recognize that there are so many reasons why no one did. And to a large degree, I don’t blame them. After all, crushing someone’s lifelong dream is not a task that anyone would like to be saddled with; and what if I were to have miraculously shaken off the impediments I had been suffering – as I had hoped? How many times did I feel that I had during all those years?The breaking point came when I had a break-up with my family and my world came crashing down. I no longer had it in me to keep up the fight. I put my seven trumpets in their cases and shoved them under the bed. That was it. I needed to move on with my life.
Two weeks later, I was a different person. The daily trauma of not being able to hit the high notes or play certain passages was behind me. My fear of grave depression for quitting was replaced with a feeling of liberty.
I don’t want to give the impression that my 20 years of trumpet playing was day-after-day torture because that would be far from the truth. I remember excellent performances that I’m proud of to this day. And certainly not all of my practice sessions were challenging, but enough of them were hard work, which I interpreted as par for the course. No pain, no gain, right? Well, not really.
Once you’ve graduated from college, you should be so proficient in your playing that you can focus the majority of your time on style and repertoire rather than basic technique and stamina. I should have received the message that this was never going to be many years before I kicked my horns under the bed.
Now I’m thinking, I’m probably not the only one who has gone through this – since probably 90% of aspiring classical musicians never actually acquire a professional seat in an orchestra and those who do are rarely compensated for their efforts in a fair way.[1]
My single-sentence definition of talent is: the innate or natural ability to excel in a particular field, as confirmed and validated by others with expertise in that field.
Generally speaking, you can ask yourself four questions to gain insights as to whether you have the talent to have a professional career in the domain preference.
- Where do you stand with your peers? How long has it been that way?
- Ask three or more objective professionals for their assessment.
- How is your progress? Do you progress quickly or find yourself constantly hitting a glass ceiling?
- What does your gut tell you? This requires complete honesty and the understanding that what you set your heart out on doing may not be what you are gifted in.
I have re-framed these questions below for people who aspire to be musicians (jazz or classical), sports professionals, and business leaders.
How can you determine if you possess talent in classical or jazz music?
- Peer Comparison: Assess where you stand among fellow musicians. Have you consistently performed at a high level, and has this position been maintained over time?
- Expert Feedback: Seek evaluations from three or more objective music professionals or instructors. Their insights can provide a balanced perspective on your musical abilities. Avoid family members and friends as they will naturally have a bias, and even if they don’t you might have a difficult time trusting that they don’t.
- Progress Evaluation: Reflect on your musical journey. Are you steadily improving your skills and musicality, or do you repeatedly encounter barriers that hinder your advancement? Are you the go-to person when someone needs a substitute? Are you receiving first-chair spots? If that is not happening by college level, there is a good chance that all your hard work is for naught if your dream is to play in a professional ensemble.
- Trust Your Instincts: Engage in honest self-reflection. Listen to your intuition and gut feelings. Understand that while your passion for music may drive you, true talent may lead you in a different direction, and it’s important to acknowledge this possibility.
Sports Person:
How can you determine if you possess talent in sports?
- Peer Comparison: Assess where you stand among your fellow athletes in your chosen sport. Have you consistently performed at a high level, and has this position been maintained over time? Are you the first string? It’s the rare exception that hard work can compensate for a lack of native talent.
- Expert Feedback: Seek evaluations from three or more objective sports coaches or experts. Their insights can provide a balanced perspective on your athletic abilities. Even if your mom is a sports professional, she will not be able to give you an objective view, and may even be projecting her own ambitions on you.
- Progress Evaluation: Reflect on your athletic journey. Are you steadily improving your skills and performance, or do you repeatedly encounter barriers that hinder your advancement?
- Trust Your Instincts: Engage in honest self-reflection. Listen to your intuition and gut feelings. Understand that while your passion for sports may drive you, true talent may lead you in a different direction, and it’s important to acknowledge this possibility.
Business Person:
How can you determine if you possess talent in the business world?
- Peer Comparison: Assess where you stand among your peers in your business endeavors. Have you consistently demonstrated exceptional skills and achievements, and has this position been maintained over time?
- Expert Feedback: Seek evaluations from three or more objective business professionals or mentors. Their insights can provide a balanced perspective on your business acumen.
- Progress Evaluation: Reflect on your career path. Are you steadily advancing in your field, achieving milestones, and overcoming challenges, or do you repeatedly encounter barriers that hinder your professional growth?
- Trust Your Instincts: Engage in honest self-reflection. Listen to your intuition and gut feelings. Understand that while your passion for business may drive you, true talent may guide you in a different direction, and it’s important to acknowledge this possibility.
I’d love to hear how others in different fields determine whether they truly ‘have it.’ What’s your test?
#UnlockYourTalent #TalentMatters #FindYourPassion #PursueGreatness #SkillAndDedication #GrowthMindset #MasterYourCraft #TalentDevelopment #ChaseYourDreams
[1] https://iml.esm.rochester.edu/polyphonic-archive/article/professional-sacrifices-define-the-lives-of-orchestra-musicians/index.html
3 comments
Michael Hoffman
This is simply a test.
Mitchell Sowards
Excellent article Michael! Please don’t forget that you would not be the superior executive coach you are today without having spent those 20 years. It was not time “wasted” even if you are (possibly) right that it would have been better for someone to put you on a different course earlier. Lemonade from lemons, my friend
Regarding “business world” I have a challenge for you to consider. Using the old rubric of employees being either “A” players (to be treasured and nurtured), “B” players (to be coached/counselled to excel), or “C” players (to be invited to pursue some other line of work), the almost indisputable fact is that the large majority of any organizations employees will be those B players. And organizations need and depend upon them! They cannot and should not be counselled to pursue some other line of work just because they’ll never be in the top ranks. The world is simply not full of top talent players – while maybe not in short supply, there are not enough of them to fill all the ranks. Another unfortunate fact is that most B players don’t realize they are B players. (Dunning-Kreuger?) I find this to be a delicate challenge for a coach or instructor to handle since you really don’t want to chase away or discourage the large number of vital B players in your org. That’s your challenge. What approach should an org take based on recognizing these “facts”?
Michael Hoffman
An excellent question, Mitch. Let me see if I can give you a worthy answer.
First, let me re-frame it: I don’t begin by trying to place people on some talent continuum. Instead, I ask a more pragmatic question: Do we coach them, or do we let them go? You may have heard me use the phrase, “Coach or fire?” That’s the first, binary decision. If the answer is “coach,” only then do we explore whether they’re open to that coaching—because we can lead a horse to water, but we can’t force growth. If they aren’t receptive to being coached or mentored, then we revisit that initial decision; coaching without consent is just noise—and it wastes time for everyone involved.
Regarding the Dunning-Kruger effect: absolutely. Even top performers can fall into the trap of thinking that being great at one thing means they’re great at something related. For example, an IT expert might assume they’re also an expert at managing email (don’t we know it!), when in fact those are two very different skill sets. Even so, our role isn’t to shake them awake—it’s to support them in seeing the world as it is rather than how they might prefer to perceive it.
And that starts with expectations. The more explicit we are—what “great” looks like, what outcomes matter, how progress will be measured—the easier it becomes to hold people accountable and give them a mirror they can actually use.
Even if I’m not a 100% fan of Patrick Lencione (See the Lencione outtakes at the bottom of this blog), there is a lot of wisdom in holding people accountable (The 5 Dysfunctions), which starts with setting explicit expectations.
So when performance slips, we’re not pointing fingers—we’re pointing to the standard: “Here’s what we agreed on. Are you clear on this? Do you need support here?”
Not every situation lends itself to a rulebook, but clarity and follow-through are the coach’s compass. And when done well, they can turn that murky middle tier—the Bs—into the backbone of the organization.