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Everyone has some talents, things they're good at or that they care about. And some people are better at some things than they are at others. That much is clear and simple. What is neither clear nor simple is how companies can identify the talents that are critical for particular jobs; how they can measure the talents of hundreds or thousands of candidates for those jobs; how they can compare these two sets of talents; and how they can then hire the right people.

Most companies rely on some variation of the standard recruit/interview/reference check/hire system. This business-as-usual approach is certainly methodical. But all too often it substitutes procedural checklists for more rigorous criteria. Worse, managerial intuition - "personal chemistry" - tends to overwhelm clear-headed evaluation.

The Gallup system virtually eliminates intuition in favor of life themes - spontaneous, recurring patterns of thought, feeling, and behavior. According to Gallup, while people always have a number of themes in their lives, it is possible to identify dominant themes - the few defining personal qualities that close friends would always mention first. And it is possible to use an objective evaluation of those themes as a basis for hiring.

Consider some of the categories the Gallup system uses to describe management qualities. The classifications include ego, performance orientation, discipline, responsibility, mission, and focus. Managers for whom ego is a dominant theme tend to define themselves by the recognition they receive. Because they need to see themselves as leaders, they strive to excel and are willing to take risks. Managers for whom focus is a dominant theme distinguish themselves by their persistence toward a goal over a long period of time. They are frequently people who have clear objectives and have benefited from mentors after whom they pattern themselves.

Gallup begins by creating a life-themes model that establishes the attributes of the most successful performers in a given job. Let's say a major retailer needs to hire salespeople for a new store. The company identifies its most talented salespeople. Gallup interviews these people to identify the strongest life themes among them. Based on these results, Gallup creates its model - a profile of the attributes that describe the most important talents for the position. Then Gallup interviews applicants for the sales job, identifies each candidate's life themes, and compares these themes to those of the model group. The retailer makes final hiring decisions based on these comparisons and whatever other data it collects as part of the selection process.

It's easy to understand why companies who need to hire large numbers of front-line people are attracted to the life-themes approach. But what works for sales clerks, restaurant managers, and hotel housekeepers also applies to more specialized jobs - like power forwards in the NBA or cooks stationed on oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico.

Consider the case of the Cleveland Cavaliers, once the doormat of the NBA, now a strong contender in its division. Every year the Cavaliers get the chance to make a few critical selections from the thousands of players coming out of college. But here's the challenge: How can the Cavaliers management know with any certainty which few players have what it takes to flourish in the pros? The reason some make it and some don't is talent - but talent that goes beyond dribbling, shooting, passing, or rebounding.