Understanding the Difference Between Talent, Knowledge, and Skill
What is a talent of yours? If you’re like most, you might say something like painting or singing. Talent is often reserved for exceptional examples, particularly in the arts. However, decades of Gallup's research into talent and talent development have revealed that talent encompasses a much broader range than many realize, and it is something everyone possesses.
It might be hard for you to believe, as it was for me at first. How can everyone have talent? If everyone possesses it, why are there still people who underperform?
Through understanding, I’ve come to realize that yes, everyone does have talent. Developing that talent—whether in yourself or others—requires an understanding of the difference between talent, strengths, knowledge, and skill.
Talent: What Is It Really?
Don Clifton, the father of the CliftonStrengths Assessment, defines talent as “one’s natural way of thinking, feeling, or behaving that can be productively applied.”
Talent is the raw material we are born with or acquire from our environment or experiences as children. Like clay before it becomes a bowl or a mug, it's the base material our personalities are made of. In its raw form, talent may appear almost like quirks—the desire to keep a closet well organized at all times, the constant urge to score the winning goal, or a natural sensitivity to the moods and feelings of others. Your talent feels so natural to you that you might believe everyone has it or should have it. However, what appears as a talent in you may seem like an idiosyncrasy to others. But it's the natural ways you do what you do—things no one taught you, you just do them—that are talents.
Building Talent with Skill + Knowledge
A talent is not necessarily productive until it’s honed. Think of Luke Skywalker and Yoda. Luke was strong with the Force—that was his talent, genetically given to him by Anakin. But he had no sense of what it was or how to use it until he encountered Yoda and learned about the Force and what it means to be a Jedi. Similarly, talent lies dormant until knowledge is gained and skills are practiced to turn it into something that can be purposefully used.
Knowledge is information that is either learned or gained from experience. Learning what your talents are involves gaining information. Observing your talents “in the wild” means you are gaining information through experience. Knowledge can be gathered through courses, training, mentorship, and on-the-job experience as well.
Skills are actions you practice regularly to gain proficiency at a task. You might be talented at communicating, but you won’t become great at cold calling clients until you are given the action steps and the chance to practice those hours. You might have a competitive edge naturally, but you still need to kick a soccer ball against a wall thousands of times if you want to be a great player and score the winning goal.
Talent is the raw potential, and the knowledge and skill you apply enable that potential to be realized.
So, What’s a Strength Then?
Knowledge and skill without talent will lead to progress, but not excellence. It’s the combination of talent, skill, and knowledge that creates a strength.
Don Clifton defined a strength as, “the ability to consistently produce a positive outcome through near-perfect performance in a specific task.”
For example, if the talent "Strategic" is among your top 5, it suggests you like to plan, you have a natural sense for the quickest path forward, and you tend to see and think in terms of patterns. By investing in this talent—learning more about effective planning and practicing making increasingly complex, higher-stakes decisions—you can develop it into a strength. This strength might then enables you to consistently identify and avoid problems before they arise. For business owners, this can lead to excellence in foreseeing and circumventing potential business pitfalls, effectively predicting and avoiding poor investments before they affect your operations.
How Can Coaching Help?
A common mistake is to take the CliftonStrengths assessment, receive a CliftonStrengths report, see the top 5 talents, and stop there. People often misunderstand what the report is telling them. The report indicates the presence of talent—that raw, unformed clay—but it can’t tell you how developed that potential is. If you have the talent "Command" in your top 5, which suggests you have the natural ability to take control of situations and make decisions, it would be a mistake to think that this talent alone makes you well-suited to be a CEO of a major corporation without proper education, training, and experience. This is where a skilled coach can be invaluable.
A Gallup Certified Strengths Coach can walk you through your report, helping you understand which talents you possess, how developed they are, and what knowledge or skill is best suited to develop them given your goals.
Everyone has the potential to do great things, but not everyone will achieve greatness. It’s those who invest in their best talents that have a shot.
Is that you? If so, schedule a free 30-minute discovery call and learn how coaching can help you and/or your team unlock your talents.
