You want all the talent that you can get in your business. You know that the more talent you have, the better your edge on the competition. In our work as executive coaches and leadership development consultants, we are often asked to find ways to recruit, develop and retain talented or high-potential employees. Business leaders recognize that one of their most important jobs is to match the right person to the right job, and then to build stable groups populated with these matches. Time and budgets are set to find and develop talent, yet retention of valuable talent is often left to what World War II pilots in a battered aircraft relied on when returning home—“a wing and a prayer.” Businesses rely on compensation and potential for advancement, as the wing and the prayer is, as you would expect, still a prayer. Prayer is a valuable activity in your private life but it is no way to run a business. A Management Need The Concept of the MVP Convert Your Stars into Your MVPs The Three Central Questions The 24+ Participating Companies and their People

Who are the MVPs that by definition create the most value for the organization? What is it that distinguishes this 5%–10% of the workforce from other employees? The answers are not always clear, but over the course of more than 60 interviews, we began to build a picture of the MVP. In this chapter and in the next, we will be discussing how MVPs can be identified—here considering there exceptional performance, what they do and how they do it and in Chapter 4 addressing some of their basic qualities. MVPs have inclinations and talents that predispose them for one role over another. Some have a greater preponderance of leadership talent. These MVPs create and run the business strategy. They set the vision and mission of the organization and also set and meet the yearly goals, while motivating others to attain their goals. Others have a greater degree of explorer talent. These MVPs create new opportunities for the business. They come up with new ideas, make the sales, find new revenues, get the contracts signed. Still others have a greater proportion of producer talent. These MVPs do the production work for the products or services that generate revenue. They do the work that culminates in sending out the bills. In short, MVPs are not all the same. The truth of that proposition should not blind us, however, to the degree to which MVPs share common talents. In posing the questions of what do MVPs do to create value and how do they do it, we discovered a remarkable level of agreement among our interviewees. What Do MVPs Do? How Do MVPs Create Value?

In the last chapter we considered the value the MVP brings to organizations in terms of producing extraordinary results and the way that they achieved them. We will now look at the common traits and basic qualities of the MVPs that help them to achieve these extraordinary results for their organizations as described by senior executives, HR executives and by the MVPs themselves. Common traits of the MVP: MVPs are motivated by intrinsic passion MVPs always want to succeed and do not like to fail MVPs show moral courage MVPs are committed to the values and vision of the company MVPs enhance the company’s reputation MVPs earn the respect of colleagues

During the course of our interviews, six key themes emerge addressing the prerequisites for successfully managing the MVP. These are consistent with our experiences as both internal and external consultants to numerous organizations that have MVPs. Develop an appropriate culture to allow the MVP to be productive and motivated. This includes making sure that the total compensation of the MVP is appropriate to the value they create. Adopt a management style that allows the MVP to produce and grow. Provide career development and feedback. Provide the MVP with challenge. Allow for flexibility. Encourage the MVP to stay.

To this point we have drawn a careful portrait of the MVP. We have considered some of the MVP’s key characteristics and described in detail what MVPs actually do to earn the MVP designation. The questions now arise, can you become an MVP and if so how? Clearly, if a person is simply born an MVP, becoming one is out of the question. So, the first question we must ask is, are MVPs born, or made? If an MVP’s talent is in any way subject to development, we can proceed to consider whether you already have what it takes to be an MVP and what you can do to become an MVP. This chapter, then, will address the following: Are MVPs born or made? Do you have what it takes to be an MVP? What can you do to become an MVP?

Sufficient thought and planning needs to be put into the hiring and assimilation of the MVP if he or she is to thrive in the new organization. This chapter will look at how to succeed at bringing in an MVP. It will cover the following topics: The reasons why externally recruited MVPs may fail. Optimizing the MVP selection process. Optimizing the MVP assimilation process.

There is sometimes a tension at the top performance levels. The top performers do what others do not seem capable of doing. They can be seen as action oriented or as aggressive. They can challenge the status quo and they can be disruptive. MVPs can perform at these high levels and yet behave in such a way that builds the organization. And then sometimes they slip, creating more problems than they are worth. We have worked with many managers of MVPs who must deal with a very valuable performer who has, for various reasons, become disruptive, annoying or unpleasant. We need to remember that MVPs, just like the rest of us, have their weaknesses and their problems that can show up at work. Managing an MVP who has become difficult is a challenge that managers may encounter. So, how do you manage a difficult MVP? As you would any other difficult employee, only better. MVPs are important corporate assets and need to be cared for and managed as such. We asked our interviewees if MVPs get special handling. Most said yes, while others only whispered yes. The MVP’s value to the organization ups the ante for managers when performance or behavioral problems develop. To understand the problems and cures associated with difficult MVPs, we will look at these four areas: Can a difficult person be an MVP? Identifying the difficulties What a manager can do with a truly difficult MVP Taking action

While HR plays a number of roles, the primary one highlighted by the HR executives we interviewed involves assisting with the identification and development of MVPs. John Marrs, Senior Vice President of HR for State Street Global Advisors, speaks for many when he tells us, “My role is to facilitate a process to support managers in identifying who the MVPs are, and to make sure that managers have the resources available to help them grow and develop these MVPs. We also have to be the organization’s facilitator/ombudsman to make sure that this talent, because it is a corporate talent, doesn’t get stuck and has the ability to grow. It may mean an overseas assignment or an assignment in a different discipline in the organization; it may mean a project.” Assisting management in the identification and development of MVPs can be analyzed into a number of key HR processes: Talent assessment Development processes Recruitment to fill talent gaps Recognition and rewards HR policies

Our quest in writing this book was to determine whether the concept of the MVP that exists in every major sport, was relevant to business. Through out the course of our interviews, we learned that the concept of the Corporate MVP is relevant and easily defined. These MVPs are the 5% or so of people in organizations who are highly valued because they generate the highest revenue; drive quality; produce great customer relations; develop new products and services and increase the reputation of the business. A number of the business leaders that we interviewed said metaphorically that “I would die if these people left the business.” One of our interviewees tells us of the value she created by identifying and focusing on her MVPs. “These are the people that we are always trying to get our best people to develop into; they are right in front of us. They walk around the office everyday exemplifying the very best that this company can be.” Excellence Can Be Contagious

The material for the book is based primarily on the interview data that we obtained. We determined the common themes by analyzing more than 1,500 pages of notes taken during interviews of more than 60 people. Appendix 1 contains the names of the participating companies, a description of each company and of the people interviewed. Here is a listing of 24 of the companies that helped us with this book, the other companies preferred to remain anonymous: American Distributed Generation A.T. Kearney Executive Search Bright Horizons Family Solutions Continental Airlines FiRE + iCE Restaurant Chain GeneXP Biosciences Honeywell International Humphrey Enterprises Liberty Mutual Insurance Limited Brands Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Mintz Levin Cohn Ferris Glovsky and Popeo P.C. MIT Sloan School of Management Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company Novations/J. Howard & Associates NSTAR Phoenix Investments Partners, Ltd. Pioneer Investment Management, Inc. Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) Capital Markets Seed Partners, LLC and Growth Point Ventures, LLC Shoppers Drug Mart Spencer Stuart State Street Corporation State Street Global Advisors (SSgA)

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