Sit down with any group of developing group of leaders and with human resources professionals and you will learn plenty about top talent designations. A primary question on the minds of developing leaders, some of whom are high-potential leaders, is "Who gets counted?" In one of our recent seminars, a C-level executive addressed a group of developing leaders. He described his successful career in a Fortune 50 company, intimating that the company invests at least 13 years in an individual before moving the individual into an executive leadership position. What do you think was on the minds of the young, developing leaders, many of whom were already in their very early 30s, with successful technical track records?

A traditional approach to leader development in organization is the Annual Review of Talent, presented to the Chief Executive Officer. The Annual Review presentation tends towards a thick binder, now sometimes converted into a slick CD presentation. As I have participated and prepared Annual Talent Reviews, I've often watched a year of work, reviewed by the CEO as if he or she were "looking through" a distant cousin's photo album of a recent vacation. Sometimes, I've been shocked by the comments, such as, "Oh my goodness, he's gained weight," or "Is she still around?" These results indicate that the Annual Talent Review, in and of itself, is an avoidable waste of time.

There are several steps to consider in revising or creating your organizational review of talent. First, talent reviews should be public considerations in organizational life, combining multiple sources of input for review. Eventually, input for the review contributes to recognition and encouragement of talent development and retention. Another step is to create a focus on pools of talent within the organization. A focus on pool development assists organizational leaders to ensure and to create a ready supply of diverse talent that contributes to long-term organizational innovation and survival. It will also highlight opportunity areas for the organization. A third, yet not final consideration in talent review, is to build and establish corporate citizenship. Strong and healthy organizations recognize the need to create a diverse talent pool that embodies and renews organizational vision. Organizational planners benefit from an outside-in review of their talent planning process.

Organization still caught in the throws of re-engineering are apt to consider top, middle, and bottom candidates in talent reviews. Our experience suggests that organizations, given the re-engineering mind frame, have little doubt regarding action with under-performing talent. However, they struggle or fail to act with their top talent. This action and inaction cycle can be modified with a selective focus on top talent. Choose to consider your investment in top talent that produces a considered return. Then, in the next developing leaders program, you might not be staring blankly at your developing leaders when they ask, "Can you tell me if we have a top talent program?"

Soon, 2004 will take its place in history. The end of the year creates an opportune time to review your leadership skills. November is a great time to begin this process as you select and consider developmental pathways for 2005. Perhaps you'll be doing your 2005 calendar planning in December, so why not consider a leadership skill review in November. Here are five considerations in reviewing your leadership skills:

1. If you were asked to teach a course on leadership, or to give a one-hour presentation on Leadership Skills for Organizations, how long would it take you to prepare? Successful organizational leaders answer that it takes little time, because they maintain a record of their leadership skills. If you haven't identified your leadership skills, or haven't updated the list recently, do it now.
2. Give yourself a report-card on your leadership skills. Clearly, you can engage in self-assessment, and that may provide some insight that produces action. Enrich your assessment by involving others. If you've recently participated in a multi-rater feedback session, you may have great sources of information available to you. Otherwise, schedule some time with colleagues to review your leadership skills; thank them for their participation in your work.
3. Place a time-line on your leadership skills. If you created your list several years ago, what's changed with you that would cause you to update your list? Consider your career in five year segments - what leadership skills have been added as to your developing career? This approach provides an opportunity to revisit peaks and valleys in your development.
4. Start from scratch. Get others involved in the process by asking them to spend one hour with you to identify your leadership skills. While there are few "clean sheet" approaches to human experience, sometimes a thorough window-washing creates new light on existing leadership styles.
5. Remember that the review, to be successful, has to be more than a report card. Plan to accompany your review with at least one action-step.

When was the last time that you acknowledged your leadership contributions to your organization? It's not unusual for leaders to recall and recount their technical achievements regularly, at quarter-end, mid-year, or end of year. We measure sales, costs, and other considerations thoughtfully and routinely. We seek, as a result of these reviews, new approaches to increase sales or performance and to reduce costs or errors. If leadership is the critical difference to organizational success (any doubters?), what would be the measured benefit of creating and reviewing your leadership tribute.

A tribute is a written and spoken testament to the impact of your leadership work in your organization. It is effective if done annually, and therefore I offer it in the spirit of our focus on renewal and recalibration. The development of a leadership tribute gives you license to celebrate - without reservation - your contributions. However, it should be neither speculative nor imaginary. Place your tribute in the context of your achievements, disappointments, and desires.

Tributes create great insight. In working with clients, I've heard them refer to their passion, their need to create a more ideal blend of work and life, and their description of contribution to the development of others. This work also provides an approach to assessing alignment of energy to organizational values, vision, mission, and goals. If the tribute sounds hollow, it may be a good time to check into the forces that are driving or restraining the expression of your talent.

The tribute also creates an opportunity for you to consider the element of "where" you are working, and if it produces satisfaction for you. It can be surprising if your tribute is taking you some distance from your current office location. A good tribute creates an opportunity for action and compels our spirit and action beyond a narrow checklist.

• Find and appreciate your mentors. Studies of successful leaders underscore and highlight the great significance of mentors in leadership development. If you do not have a mentor, ask yourself what is going on with your career. What's getting in the way of your ability to connect and to build relationships with others?
• Thank your mentor and role models. In close professional relationships, acknowledgement can take a secondary seat. Choose a time and a place to recognize and to thank your mentors and role models privately.
• If you're not part of someone's professional development network, get clued in to someone's development journey. Your visit and length of time and service may be short or long-term; the rewards will always last a lifetime.
• Don't forget, in your assessment of partners, to include others outside of your organization. Successful executives and leaders have broad and deep networks. Many of our coaching clients, often at mid-life, find themselves short on networks that sustain and promote their leadership involvement and development.
• Seek diversity in your partnerships. Diverse views and perspectives encourage and promote strong and healthy leadership.