Leadership is not for the faint of heart. Whether you're commanding a multinational corporation, or putting out fires from your lonely desk on the frontlines of customer care, the world of work demands you step up to lead. Many of the problems facing us at work are not new. One in particular has been on the horizon for decades: the talent crisis. In every industry, reality has forced leaders to admit we need to invest in our workers so that our companies can thrive. In the beginning, it felt like a victory to hear resounding agreement about what our companies needed to thrive in the long term. But after several decades of dancing with the obvious answer, it's clear that most of our organizations have only given this solution lip service. Developing people is never convenient. Turnover dynamics will always be a linchpin of excellence on any team. Employee knowledge, skill, and shared culture are the largest assets your organization has to leverage. Your people are your competitive advantage. With worker mobility and talent shortages on a sharp upward trajectory, the teams that thrive, the brands that dominate, and the organizations that deliver strong returns do so by mastering the talent life cycle. As you flip through these pages you will discover a playbook of how to optimize and elevate your success in the four-part talent life cycle already at work in your company. This life cycle starts with attracting talent, and builds on it by activating, retaining, and even releasing that talent when an employee tenure ends.