Lessons Learned from the 2014 Tonys

Last night at the 2014 Tony awards Audra McDonald made history by winning her sixth Tony for acting. This achievement is particularly impressive because not only is six acting awards the most achieved by a single individual, but also she is the first performer to win Tonys in all four acting categories. At the young age of 43 McDonald has a thriving career still ahead of her, another reason why this feat is so impressive. While much of today’s recap articles are centered on who won and who lost, I am curious what the Broadway producers are thinking. Are they patting themselves on the back for having the foresight to select Tony award winning actors and directors or are they kicking themselves for having passed up on a chance to work with these now famous talents? As a human resource consultant I do not claim to have any knowledge in creating a Tony award winning Broadway production, but I do know a bit about selecting top talent. At AAI we have developed the Leadership Potential Inventory as one of our many personality and cognitive ability assessments that help human resource managers select top talent in their organization. This measure was developed specifically to identify high potentials for selection, development, leadership and succession planning. While this tool has never been used to select future Broadway stars, it has been successful in selecting organizations’ star performers. If you are interested in learning more about how AAI can help you select and develop your organizations top talent please contact us  and check out our website!