Don't Waste Your Talent : The 8 Critical Steps to Discovering What You Do Best [Hardcover]

Don Hutcheson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 19, 2001

Based on their work with the acclaimed Highlands Program, the authors reveal how to discover your natural talents and develop a rewarding vision for your career and your life.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

No strangers to helping individuals discover their talents, Don Hutcheson and Bob McDonald, Ph.D., are cofounders of The Highlands Program, a national performance improvement training company based in Atlanta. For over 10 years they have used The Whole Person Technology to assist managers and executives at such Fortune 1000 companies as Cisco Systems, Marriott, IBM, and Chase Bank obtain, train, and retain their people. Highlands also offers assessments and seminars to help students and adults make strategic education and career decisions.

Hutcheson and McDonald are also the authors of the nationally syndicated column "Your Life's Work," as well as the widely acclaimed The Lemming Conspiracy, their earlier book about the relationship between life and work.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Taylor Trade Publishing; 1st edition (October 19, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1563526115
• ISBN-13: 978-1563526114
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,201,357 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Discover your abilities, use your talents, October 11, 2001

By 

Ronald Oltmanns (Denton, TX USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Don't Waste Your Talent : The 8 Critical Steps to Discovering What You Do Best (Hardcover)

This book is for people serious about gaining more self-awareness of their own abilities. I say that because there are lots of principles and ideas shared in this book, but one of the most valuable parts of it are the thought experiments in every chapter which guide you toward personal application of the principles. When you buy this book, get a notebook or journal to go along with it. That will greatly increase the value of the concepts.

The authors have crafted what they call the Personal Vision Process, made up of eight components: your natural talents and abilities, skills and life experience, interests, personality, values, goals, family history, and your stage of life development. It is a very comprehensive model and draws on solid work in developmental psychology.

I think the previous review was off-base that called into question the authors' work. It's clear they have done their homework, and if you're looking for career direction, don't you want a guide that is fairly optimistic and supportive?

The authors have developed a CD called the Highlands Ability Battery that profiles your own ability pattern. I purchased this separately and completed the process. It was very helpful to do this with a trained consultant. The book has a self-assessment in it that you can complete, but I found the personal feedback from the consultant much more nuanced and customized to me.

Back to my first statement: this book is for those serious about gaining self-awareness of their abilities and setting their life/career direction. Except for the few rugged individualists, you will benefit most from working through the book with a friend, career counselor, coach, or a group that is providing support. For those seeking life direction, this is one of the best processes I've seen.

21 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Practical Help for Life's Turning Points, January 23, 2001

By 

Dan S. Bagley III (Tampa, FL USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Don't Waste Your Talent : The 8 Critical Steps to Discovering What You Do Best (Hardcover)

I enjoyed this book enough to read it several times and to give it to several friends. The authors weave years of experience and research findings into a plan book for discovering who we are and where we fit best. In doing so the book tackles head on the questions that so many of us have about fitting within the systems that surround us.

While most people would like to have life on their own terms, most are unclear on what those terms are. This book helps us uncover those terms through explanations, true stories and thought experiments that lead the reader through the interplay of one's core abilities, skills, interests, style, family background, values, goals and career development cycle.

This is a hands-on book-one that encourages active participation as well as simple understanding. It is inspirational without being glib; radical without sacrificing practicality. I recommend it to anyone who feels he or she is at a turning point.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Remarkably Helpful, November 1, 2009

By 

Carolyn Carolina "Career Searcher" (Chattanooga, TN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Don't Waste Your Talent: The 8 Critical Steps To Discovering What You Do Best (Paperback)

These guys have really nailed the subject of life and career planning. I'd found the category to be so "fragmented" until I ran across this book. It's so practical and so much fun. I took the ability battery and learned why I'd been frustrated with various roles I'd thought I was interested in. I was NOT hardwired to do those things. The good news: I AM hardwired to do things I'd only dreamed of doing. The exercises in the book then guided me through ways to look more honestly and deeply into the other dimensions of myself such as interests, values, personal style, goals, skills and family of origin influences. By the time I'd gone through the process, I had several career options that match the REAL me for a change. I HIGHLY recommend this book to anyone from 18 to 80.