Columbia International Affairs Online: Working Papers

CIAO DATE: 01/2010

Talent: Implications for a U.S. Army Officer Corps Strategy

Casey Wardynski, David S. Lyle, Michael J. Colarusso.

October 2009

The Strategic Studies Institute of the U.S. Army War College

Abstract

In our proposed Army Officer Corps Strategy, we established the interdependency of accessing, developing, retaining and employing talented leaders. Before exploring each of those functions in greater detail, however, we must first define "talent." In our view, talent is something possessed by everyone. In fact, each individual has a unique distribution of talent across three dimensions-skills, knowledge, and behaviors. Effective organizations understand this. They successfully access and retain a depth and breadth of talent that can be developed and employed against current and future requirements.