Set Fire to Talent

Within our group is a somewhat unusual marketing and branding company whose motto is: "Set fire to talent." I love this phrase — not "create" talent, not "find" it, but ignite it, resting on the premise that the talent is already there. I have witnessed this premise all my life. Canadian friends lit the fire in a boy who couldn't study.

Seeing adults work joyfully lit the fire in a young man who had only known blame and escape. Leaping into an unknown industry relit a man who had lost his spark. In every case, no talent was added — existing talent caught fire. So when I evaluate people, I look less at the size of today's flame than at how much unlit firewood remains.

A leader's job is not to critique the wood, but to prepare the encounters and stages that ignite it. Is there unlit wood in you? Is someone near you waiting for a spark?

What do you work for?