The Talent War: How Special Operations and Great Organizations Win on Talent

by Mike Sarraille, George Randle, Josh Cotton, Jocko Willink (Foreword by)

Overview

In our modern business landscape, the war for talent is more complex than ever. You need to attract and retain the best talent for your organization to win, but without the right strategy or mindset, you won't be able to compete. If your revenue is declining, you're losing market share to your competition, or your organizational health is deteriorating, it's time to evolve how you approach this never-ending war. After all, your PEOPLE—not your product or service—are your strongest competitive advantage. The Talent War explores how US Special Operations Forces (SOF) assess, select, and develop their world-class talent. You'll learn how to adopt a talent mindset, the single greatest weapon you can possess in the war for talent. When your organization reflects this mindset, you will hire, train, and develop the right people, and put them in the best positions to make decisions that allow you to retake the advantage and win the war.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781544515557
Publisher:	Lioncrest Publishing
Publication date:	11/10/2020
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	294
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

Mike Sarraille is the Founder and CEO of Talent War Group, a leadership development and executive search firm, and head of the Men's Journal Everyday Warrior Initiative. He is a former Recon Marine, Scout-Sniper, and retired U.S. Navy SEAL officer with twenty years of experience, to include the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC).

George Randle is a Managing Partner and Co-Director of Talent Advisory at Talent War Group, an executive search and talent advisory firm, and a former US Army Officer. George has more than two decades of experience as a talent acquisition and HR executive at Fortune 100 and Fortune 1000 firms.

JOCKO WILLINK is a decorated retired Navy SEAL officer, author of the book Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win, and co-founder of Echelon Front, where he is a leadership instructor, speaker, and executive coach. Jocko spent 20 years in the U.S. Navy SEAL Teams, starting as an enlisted SEAL and rising through the ranks to become a SEAL officer. As commander of SEAL Team Three's Task Unit Bruiser during the battle of Ramadi, he orchestrated SEAL operations that helped the "Ready First" Brigade of the US Army's First Armored Division bring stability to the violent, war-torn city. Task Unit Bruiser became the most highly decorated Special Operations Unit of the Iraq War. Jocko returned from Iraq to serve as Officer-in-Charge of training for all West Coast SEAL Teams. There, he spearheaded the development of leadership training and personally instructed and mentored the next generation of SEAL leaders who have continued to perform with great success on the battlefield. During his career, Jocko was awarded the Silver Star, the Bronze Star, and numerous other personal and unit awards. In 2010, Jocko retired from the Navy and launched Echelon Front where he teaches the leadership principles he learned on the battlefield to help others lead and win. Clients include individuals, teams, companies, and organizations across a wide-range of industries and fields.

Editorial Reviews

2020-12-18
If a company wants to win “the talent war,” it should take a cue from the military’s special operations recruiting process, according to this debut business book.

When it comes to finding—and molding—the best talent, few organizations are more effective than the United States special operations forces. Those who become Navy SEALs or Army Rangers have gone through a rigorous, battle-tested assessment process to identify high performers who “share a common set of attributes” (including drive, resiliency, and humility) that position them for success. In their laser-focused work, Sarraille, a former Marine and Navy SEAL; Randle, a one-time Army officer; and Cotton, a senior management consultant, draw on their diverse experiences to make a persuasive case for why companies large and small should rethink outdated, ineffective hiring practices and embrace an approach similar to that used by the special operations forces. When hiring managers narrowly focus on hard skills or fail to look beyond the basic facts of a candidate’s resume, they may not see talent that is hiding in plain sight, the authors argue. And when they don’t nurture talent where it already exists, they risk losing it to competing organizations. In three sections, the authors clearly outline what most businesses get wrong about hiring (and what special operations forces get right); explain how to create a “talent acquisition plan” to engage and retain the best people; and offer guidance on the nuts-and-bolts of recruiting. One innovative idea: temporarily take “A-players” away from their regular duties and put them on “the front line of the talent war.” Nonmilitary folks will learn plenty about special operation forces’ surprising approach to candidate selection, where the focus is less on brawn and more on brains and character. While the authors readily admit that no company can (or should) re-create the SEALs’ infamous “Hell Week,” they draw on their experiences as consultants to show how other tests can identify candidates most likely to drive a business forward. A mix of war stories and insider military information separates this effort from the average business book. But there’s no shortage of practical, actionable advice in these pages, whether readers are CEOs or midlevel managers tasked with filling empty positions.

This must-read for business leaders provides a fresh perspective on transforming the hiring process.

Kirkus Reviews