Commentary on: “Talent—innate or acquired? Theoretical considerations and their implications for talent management”

• Commentary on the special issue paper on the meaning of talent in talent management
• Reframes debate on exclusivity versus inclusivity in TM to maximizing value creation
• Brings to the fore the translation of talent to performance in the organization context
• Emphasizes the importance of context in explaining performance of talents

This paper provides a commentary on the article in this special issue by Meyers, van Woerkom, and Dries (2013—this issue) on the meaning of the term ‘talent’ with a particular focus on the extent to which talent is an innate construct (nature), mostly acquired (nurture), or more based on an interaction of the two. While acknowledging Meyers et al.'s comprehensive and convincing overview of the differing perspectives on talent as innate versus acquired, we expand on their ideas in two important ways. Firstly, moving beyond debates on the exclusivity versus inclusivity of conceptualizations, we argue that the key focus for organizations should be on maximizing value creation through calibrating the level of talent required by the organization and ensuring that talents are deployed in those strategic jobs with the greatest potential for value creation. Secondly we touch on the translation of talent into performance in the organizational context by bring the import of context to the fore. We conclude with some directions for further study.