Digging for Talent

Digging for Talent

1986 6 June 6 Digging for Talent (309) “Will they not ponder on the Quran? Are there locks upon their hearts?” The Prophet Mohammad recited this verse, from the Surah of the Quran bearing his own name. There was a boy sitting with the Prophet at the time. “Quite so; Prophet of God!” he exclaimed. “There are indeed locks upon their hearts. None can open them, save He who locked them in the first place,” When Umer ibn Khattab became Caliph, he summoned this boy, and delegated some task to him. “He showed intelligence in what he said,” was how Umer explained his selection of this particular boy for the job in hand.

No individual can exercise effective authority within a society if he does not have the support of dependable workers. It is always the workers of a community, group, movement or organization, that make or break it. The necessary potential is always there within the individuals of a society just waiting to be tapped; there are always people who, if their talents are channelled in the right direction, can inject dynamism into a movement. Those who are responsible for choosing workers, however, must have the ability to delegate tasks to those who are fit for them, They must be able to dig deep into the characters of the manpower at their disposal, and select people on the basis of their essential qualities, not for any ulterior motive.

If people in authority are out to fill their own pockets; if they prefer to be surrounded by sycophants, people of inferior ability to themselves, who pose no threat to their own authority: then their organization will deteriorate into a rubbish dump of ineffectual individuals. But if they show the eye for talent which Umer ibn Khattab displayed, then the movement they represent will flourish like a garden, full of healthy trees and giving fruit at every season.