Being a talent means people expect more from you

Being labeled a talent is not a reward. It’s a test. Everyone wants to be seen as a talent. A rising star. The chosen one in a high-potential program.

You’re under the spotlight now. Expectations go up.
People start watching: Will you deliver? Will you lead? Will you crumble?

Few realise that you will only get this chance once. When you fail, you get onto the forget-list: "was promising, but didn't deliver. Forget them."

Once you've made it on this forget-list, shortcuts aren't available anymore. There are no strategic projects, Top Management Meetings, or secret information.

Of course, life is not over if you fail. Then you have the option of a classical career: deliver constantly and climb step by step the career ladder. No elevator.

I don't know about you, but I like to be in the high-potential club, moving on to the high-performance club and using the shortcut.

Execution and working towards a goal are traits of high performers.

Being Named a Talent Isn’t the Finish Line — It’s the Starting Gun

Yes, it feels great to be picked — but now you’re under observation. People observe you because they have high expectations.

Never forget: A manager named you, and this person does not want to be proven wrong. Imagine this is a reputational risk for the manager.

Where most people fail is that they rely on the talent program. Most talent programs are a hygiene factor of HR.

Talent programs lack clear goals, development and next steps. The agenda is screaming (the louder, the better): HERE I AM, AND DO SOMETHING.

Talent programs offer mostly a bunch of traps that make you feel that the company made everything, but you failed:

• Networking events - nobody explains networking
• Stories about Feedback - no help about improving from feedback
• Awareness Sessions - I'm aware this is important and now?
• Mindset Sessions - If you fail, it was your mindset, never the company

The trick is not to rely on the program and instead create your own agenda. Get clarity on what you want.

The simple and leading question when you enter the talent program is:

What do you expect to happen after the program?

Simple like that.

Here are three questions I always ask talents and nobody was able to answer them right away. They had to think about it - test yourself:

1. What do I want from this program?
   → Clarity. Visibility? Mentoring? Stretch role?
2. How do I want to be seen?
   → Trusted doer? Emerging leader? Strategic thinker?
3. What do they expect from me?
   → Passive participation ≠ impact. You must own something.

The better you know the answers, the more you will get out of the talent program. You will sit in the driver's seat and lead any conversation with mentors or HR.

Most people never write these down. That's why they float — and fail.

Talent Status = Spotlight + Expectation (Execution)

Clarity on your goals will set your expectations. Don't forget that the managers and your boss also have expectations.

You get more scrutiny. More complexity. Less room for excuses because excuses aren't accepted from talents.

In my experience, you can execute the best by mastering office fundamentals.

What this looks like:

• Structuring topics: 
  I often see people attending meetings and contributing a bit. The magic happens when topics of meetings get a structure. From messy to clear.
  What is the goal? Can the topic be clustered? What are the next steps? Who are the owners? What is the timeline? What is the budget?
• Owning outcomes: 
  People like to talk about everything, and the best is to set up a meeting. Meetings are a mess, and we have all experienced this moment when nobody wanted to take the todo. Here is the magic: OWNERSHIP. Own the topic. From nice ideas to delivered results.
• Connecting with people: 
  Connect to people - ruthlessly. Whenever you don't know a stakeholder, send over an invitation for a coffee. Get the perspective of the person. Ask what they expect and where they see problems. This makes every call easy because you have already established a connection. From solo to stakeholder-savvy.
• Demanding results: 
  Trust me: the person who pushes the most and demands results (in a nice and polite way) is respected the most. The reason is obvious: Everyone knows that they have an action item. It's your job to collect results. Pushing means ownership, and ownership is execution.
• Become a domain expert:
  Talents are often put in a topic where they are not mature because they should "see something new." Fair enough. Become as fast as possible a domain expert. You are now in a DevOps team, or Business Development, or a Test Team? Get to know what this means - use Google, ChatGPT etc. Knowledge means control.

You see, there is no magic. You don’t need to be perfect. You need to move things.

I recently worked with a talent and this person made it in 6 weeks from talent to we want you in the top management team. Be this person.

Summary

Being a talent isn’t about what you could become. It’s about proving you’re ready now — under pressure, with eyes on you.

Don’t waste the spotlight. Don't rely on HR programs.
Own your topics. Push for clarity. Execute like it’s already your next level.

And that’s exactly how you earn it.