Summarize key points from the case study

Present key learnings

Application to your leadership development

average to senior-level roles. Microsoft is now working on the next step: ensuring that smart risks are encouraged and rewarded whether they succeed or not, as long as they yield insights that propel the business forward. A redefined talent program. In the traditional approach to talent development, a company identifies a pool of future leaders, typically by zeroing in on and measuring key traits. Here's the idea behind it: If you can find people who have these inherent characteristics, you can guide them into leadership roles. But what happens when you assume that everyone has potential, and that talent is neither predetermined nor static? Now what? Microsoft didn't cast aside its efforts to identify and nurture "high potentials," but it is supplementing them with a program called Talent Talks. Each year, the CEO and his senior leadership team meet with the heads of each arm of the organization (from engineering to sales to corporate functions) to review their employees, discuss moving people up and across teams, and brainstorm methods of augmenting skills and building experiences. Though the discussions require almost a full week of the CEO's time, they lead to a much broader view of upand-coming talent and provide a more effective way of detecting and fostering new leaders. This approach allows Microsoft to reap some of the benefits of early talent identification and development while creating opportunities for everyone to grow. By giving many more people chances to become leaders, these programs are unleashing greater potential across the company, and may well be instrumental in attracting new people. While Microsoft is still in the early phases of adopting a growth mindset throughout the organization, this cultural component can't be overstated. The company is already seeing the benefits in the form of more-innovative ideas and products