L'arte del talento

This book is currently only available in Italian. An English translation is in progress.

How do some people become the best or among the best at what they do and others don’t?

The answer ought to be searched across several factors, spanning talent, practice, discipline, motivation, attitude, and also the opportunities given to some and not to others. But what is talent? What are you talking about when you talk about talent?

The book draws from the world of sport, trying to learn how exceptional athletes became so, to apply such learnings to work, school, family; in a word, to our lives. The main focus of investigation is volleyball, a team sport like no other – no single player can take the ball and decide the game, and everyone’s got to rely on teammates. This is not rhetorical, it is set by the rules of the game. However, several other fields provide inputs to the book: different sports, the corporate world, music etc….

The main message contained in the book is to help the reader identify one’s talent and actualize it, by delving into the main factors that allow the passage from raw talent to performance in any field. Such factors are several: just to mention few of them, self-awareness, curiosity, practice, and relationships all play a big role. Few people realize what a tremendous impact our relationships, for example, can have on the development of our talent.

The work strikes an effective balance between research and science – it comes from a doctoral dissertation – and an easy style of writing that flows and never bores the reader. The preface was written by the former coach of the Italian Men’s volleyball team.

The book has also been presented at the Italian Chamber of Deputies, as a source of inspiration and support to people trying to find their uniqueness and building upon it.

A book recommendation by the author, Alberto De Biasi.

Alberto De Biasi has a Master degree in Industrial and Organizational Psychology and a PhD in Organizational Development and Change with Fielding Graduate University. His PhD dissertation became a learning path for managers in the corporate world, and more recently a book. Alberto has worked as HR consultant, trainer and coach since 1998, facilitating hundreds of groups across Europe and the Middle East. He lives in Torino, Italy, with his wife Laura and his sons Lorenzo and Ludovico – Alberto calls them his “Three L”.