Frans Van Loef

What does it mean to be a manager? In today’s world, managers need to wear many hats. They have to be a mentor, mediator, communicator, coach, and numerous other roles simultaneously. But at its core, management is about matchmaking. You need to map the talents of your team to the needs of your business. That means making the most of your team’s combined talents and unlocking the diversity in your team.

Unfortunately, as managers struggle with limited time and resources, they overlook this critical component. All too often, managers end up assigning tasks on autopilot, matching business challenges to job titles rather than thinking creatively about how to leverage people’s hidden talents or offer growth opportunities.

The shift to hybrid and remote work has also reduced opportunities for the spontaneous discovery of people’s hidden talents. This can end up shrouding people’s true strengths. Collaboration and engagement can also suffer.

Fortunately, unlocking your team’s strengths doesn’t need to be time-consuming. Over the past three years, I’ve helped dozens of teams unlock talents they didn’t even know they had—and match those talents to the most pressing challenges they faced—through this simple, three-step exercise:

STEP 1: SELF-REFLECTION

Gather your team together—ideally in person—and ask everyone to write down their talents and strengths on a flip chart. Emphasize that this isn’t a competition to see who can list the most strengths, but rather about identifying the talents that people might take for granted or struggle to recognize in themselves.

Sometimes, we’re so used to our strengths that we don’t even notice them. Encourage them to think about what they find easy to do, or what people come to them for. This short 15-minute period of self-reflection lays the foundation for using the hidden talents for the benefit of the team.

STEP 2: TEAM INPUT

Next, go around the room and ask each person to read their strengths aloud. Resist the urge to discuss or critique the strengths each team member identifies. Simply ask the rest of the team, “What talent or strength do you see in this person that they didn’t mention themselves?”, and have the person write each additional talent on their list. And before moving over to your next team member, ask the team, what’s the number-one strength of this colleague that at this moment we should use much more as a team?

As you go around the room, each person will be surprised by the strengths their team sees in them. As their manager, you’re likely to be surprised as well at the number of hidden, untapped talents that may surface.

This step is often particularly powerful for more introverted or less confident employees, who might generally be more hesitant to talk about their strengths. I’ve found that while teams always have something to add for everyone, it’s often the quieter members who receive the most additions from their colleagues. The step uncovers underutilized talents and lays the groundwork for deeper appreciation and trust within the team.

STEP 3: MATCH STRENGTHS TO CHALLENGES

The final step is to connect the strengths they’ve revealed to the challenges your team currently faces. For example, I worked with a biotech company that struggled to collaborate with another department. The team had identified that Georgina was highly collaborative, and so she became the natural choice to lead cross-functional projects. Paul’s talent, on the other hand, was structuring information that could be used to address the challenge of distilling insights from complex data. And Tim’s talent for visual storytelling could help address challenges in communicating with investors and other stakeholders.

In this way, teams can collaboratively move beyond asking, “Whose job is this?” Instead, they can ask, “What talent could help us address this challenge?” It dynamically redefines roles, making full use of often overlooked talents such as:

• Spotting talent: The ability to recognize potential in oneself and others.
• Offloading: Knowing which initiatives or activities they need to stop (or simplify).
• Finishing: The drive to see projects through to completion.

These are not always the talents you see on a résumé. But when you face a challenge, knowing the specific strengths that each team member possesses can be extremely helpful.

MAKE YOUR MATCHES STICK

By design, this 90–120 minute exercise is short and simple. However, to drive lasting impact, it’s important to ensure that your team members continue to have opportunities to flex their talents.  

For example, Michael often clashed with senior leader Frank over project approaches, stalling progress. The team recognized that Anna, who excelled in stakeholder management, could bridge the gap. Anna began mentoring Michael, helping him engage Frank’s input early in the process instead of letting conflicts fester. Michael’s projects then moved faster. Both Michael and Frank came to appreciate Anna’s mentorship, and she continued to assist the team with similar stakeholder challenges.

Embedding this practice into your management style can be as simple as revisiting the exercise during weekly stand-ups, monthly team meetings, or even as part of onboarding new employees. The key is to commit to ongoing self-reflection and feedback. Regularly measure progress, share successful matches, and be willing to adjust the approach as your team evolves.

Being an effective manager today means stepping back from the daily firefight to invest in your people. When you act as a talent matchmaker, connecting individual strengths and organizational challenges, you unlock a powerful resource that drives both team performance and engagement.

Fast Company