How to Build a Team That’s a Talent Magnet
If you’re the leader of a team of any size, it’s in your interest and everyone else’s to build your team so that it becomes a talent magnet. You know, the kind of team that people are tripping over themselves to join. A great way to beat the impact of the Great Resignation is to flip your own narrative to the Great Retention. You can do that by building a team that’s known as a talent magnet.
I have a number of executive clients who are working on that right now because they recognize that doing so creates a competitive advantage that helps them win. As I’ve been coaching and brainstorming strategies with them, I’ve landed on three buckets of leadership behaviors that are key to building a talent magnet team.
The buckets are Protect, Push, and Promote.
I’ll do a light unpacking of each so you can put some of the behaviors to work in building your own talent magnet team:
Protect
You want to create an environment where people feel safe, supported and protected so they have every opportunity to do their best work. To do that you should:
- Pace the work to keep them from burning out.
- Get them the resources they need to do great work.
- Provide them with air cover from irrelevant distractions.
- Prepare them for tough meetings by doing practice runs to build their chops and confidence.
- Back them up when they need your help and support.
Push
Great people want to be developed and pushed to expand their capabilities and boundaries. Some of the key ways to do that are:
- Share a compelling vision of what you’re there to accomplish, why it matters, and who it helps.
- Set stretch goals for the team that disrupt the status quo and create game changing progress.
- Give developmental assignments that help your people grow by giving them more responsibility than they think they’re ready for.
- Align their professional goals with the work of the team and show how the two connect.
Promote
Keep your team motivated by being the chief marketing officer for their work and all they’re accomplishing. You do that when you:
- Speak for their work by sharing it and putting it in a context that key stakeholders care about.
- Build a long-term narrative that threads their individual accomplishments into a story that paints a picture of how they’re systematically creating the future.
- Create opportunities for them to shine in the spotlight as individuals and as a team.
- Happily recommend them for their next great opportunity.
Protect your team’s capacity and well-being. Push for their development and growth. Promote their work and accomplishments to key stakeholders. Those are three ways you can build a team that’s a talent magnet. What else are you doing that’s working? If you’re reading this through LinkedIn, please share in a comment. If you’re reading this directly on the Eblin Group blog, send me a note.
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