Competence and talent are characteristics of individuals that enable these persons to succeed in their endeavors. Talent is a natural ability in a specialized area. Competence is a developed ability, relying more upon nurture than nature. Even persons without a unique talent for music or mathematics can learn to be competent in piano playing or reading a financial statement.

Competence implies being adequate, or properly qualified, for a purpose. Organizations invest billions of dollars in the training and development of their work forces without a clear design of how the competencies being developed contribute to the achievement of the organization's mission or strategies. Organizations should be developing core competencies, competencies that are aligned to that organization's strategic endeavors.

The HALO action map provides a useful framework for the identification of the required core competencies. HALO is the acronym for a generic ideal for all organizations to strive to be Higher-performing, Agile, Learning Organizations. This HALO vision is operationalized via 5 Strategic Challenges. Each Strategic Challenge serves as the purpose for the development of a Core Competence. Table 1 indicates this alignment between Strategic Challenges and Core Competencies as applied to the management level of a service company.

Each core competence is a process-ideal for continuous learning. One can always progress and become more competent. There is no such state as having attained 100% competency. Each core competence points the learner in a specific direction for lifetime self-development.

Each core competence has a unique focus for the manager to operate within. Table 2 indicates the particular domain or field of action related to each core competence. A 'Learning Organization' strives for competence development in all these domains. The learning should be experiential and relevant to the managers' projects and programs.

The core competence of working smarter is required for the domain of work performance. The manager is expected to progress in the role of achiever.

An achiever contributes to the capabilities of his/her organization with regard to cost management, productive time utilization, and quality improvement. The literature on problem-solving serves as the knowledge base for this learning. The learning is problem-centered, focusing on the skills of problem recognition, problem solving, and proactive problem prevention. Companies with hard-working managers that never seem to have enough time to meet their commitments indicate the need for coaching and training of all its managers in this competence.

The core competence of enriching customers is required for the domain of customer relations. The manager is expected to progress in the role of collaborator. A collaborator contributes to the capabilities of his/her organization with regard to customer focus, providing customized value to each customer, and building partnership relationships. The literature on identifying and providing unique value to each customer serves as the knowledge base for this learning. The learning is customer-centered, focusing on the skills of helping one's customers become better downstream suppliers to their market. Companies aspiring to be the leading supplier to their customers should be developing this competence of managers working closely with their customers to enable the latter to be more successful with their customers

The core competence of empowering employees is required for the domain of employee relations. The manager is expected to progress in the role of leader. A leader contributes to the capabilities of his/her organization with regard to employee involvement, workforce development of competence, and teamwork commitment. The literature on leadership, coaching and team-building serves as the knowledge base for this learning. The learning is feedback-centered, focusing on encouraging feedback from peers, subordinates and superiors in the organization hierarchy. Companies with managers who have difficulty seeking or accepting criticism indicate the need for coaching and training of all its managers in this competence.

The core competence of renewing the organization is required for the domain of the organization purpose or reason-for-being of the organization. The manager is expected to progress in the role of strategist. A strategist contributes to the capabilities of his/her organization with regard to rethinking strategy, redesigning organization structure, and reengineering organization processes. The literature on strategy formation and implementation serves as the knowledge base for this learning. The learning is system-centered, focusing on seeing the organization as an evolving system within a larger network of systems. Companies aspiring to be world class or the best in their market should be developing this competence of managers questioning core assumptions and working to transform the organization while it is simultaneously fulfilling its mission.

The core competence of enhancing one's creativity is required for the domain of new opportunities. The manager is expected to progress in the role of innovator. An innovator contributes to the capabilities of his/her organization with regard to product and/or service development, market foresight and knowledge leverage. The literatures on creative thinking and imagining the future serve as the knowledge base for this learning. The learning is opportunity-centered, focusing on seeking, recognizing, creating, and bringing to fruition new opportunities. Companies competing for the future should be developing this competence of managers looking 5 to 10 years into the future to plan industry or market leadership for tomorrow.

The determination of which competencies to focus on should be derived from an assessment of the needs of the organization. Even though the individual managers in the organization are the learners, the need for these competencies is based upon an evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of the whole organization as a unit of action. Management uses this assessment to decide to what extent the organization should concentrate on building on its strengths and/or on improving on its weaknesses.

 For example, if a company inquiry of its stakeholders reveals that the company provides its clients with best value at competitive costs and delivers quality services efficiently, the company should consider the strategic area of 'operations effectiveness' as a strength. If the same inquiry reveals that the company does not encourage taking time to understand client needs, or to solicit client ideas, or to offer clients coaching regarding its services, the company should consider the strategic area of 'customer satisfaction/loyalty' as a weakness.

Management has to decide to what extent to invest resources in the domain of work performance to develop managers as better achievers and/or to what extent to invest resources in the domain of customer relations to develop managers as better collaborators. I recommend seeking a balance among these 5 core competencies, so that all domains are attended to and all roles are well represented within the management team.