Members in the Media
From: Thrive Global

Let’s All Stop Babbling About ‘Talent’

Thrive Global:

Katie Ledecky has been described as “an immense talent” but her own coach, Bruce Gemmell, has pointed out that Katie is “not a gifted athlete.” Whether the talent of Michael Phelps is a consequence of his genetically determined anatomy is a topic of perennial debate. And Usain Bolt recently referred to his “God-given talent” in the same interview in which he pointed out that “in Jamaica, we know we have to work hard. We do not get anything unless we work for it. My success is just a continuation of the great traditions left behind by past athletes.”

Talent. What are we to make of this word that people define in such different ways? If you close your eyes and think of the words you associate with talent, my guess is that you’ll generate a list like this: natural, God-given, gifted.

Read the whole story: Thrive Global

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