5 Questions Global Leaders Ask about Potential
I’ve been presenting recent cutting-edge research on leadership potential to global line and talent leaders over the past few months. This has led to deep discussions about the assumptions companies make about leadership and about the meaning of potential. Below are answers to 5 of the most common questions I have been asked about potential.
What is potential?
Potential is NOT a characteristic or trait that individuals have or don’t have. Instead, potential is an outcome. It is about destination levels or roles and the complexities that come with these jobs. When we discuss potential, we are trying to identify individuals that have or can develop the capabilities to manage larger, more complex roles.
Potential is also NOT movement. An individual’s pace of movement or promotion in the organization can change for many reasons. For example, an individual’s ambition may change as they take parental leave, cope with a sick parent, or even work for a bad boss. However, an individual’s motivation to learn and their ambition is an important element of potential as this enables them to develop destination capabilities. Motivation to learn is an enabler of movement and destination.
How should we measure or assess potential?
To perform these large complex roles, leaders need to develop strategy skills, the ability to collaborate and inspire individuals across the organization, and skills to lead the organization to perform and innovate. Leaders may also need functional, industry, or technical expertise.
In a recent study, we found three sets of capabilities that predicted whether a leader had ‘potential’ for large complex future roles:
Competencies and Skills. We found that individuals exhibiting Early Leader Strategies (e.g., leading others to innovate) were better prepared for future complex jobs. Almost all these Strategy (skills) measures reflected an individual’s plasticity, or their ability to explore and manage the unknown.
Growth and Motivation. We found that individuals with ambition and a desire to learn (e.g., Growth Mindset) were better prepared for future complex roles. These measures reflected a person’s motivation to learn, grow, and take on new challenging tasks.
Core Style. We found that individuals with a core Style to help them Drive Results through Others (e.g., Relationship Builders) were better prepared for future complex jobs. These measures reflected an individual’s stability, or their ability to positively focus others on goals, even when under stress.
Can an individual’s potential change?
Yes, absolutely! Of the capabilities mentioned above, about half change slowly, and the other half can be developed more quickly.
The lesson here is, don’t stereotype people as having potential or not having potential. Any measure of potential should be treated as a snapshot of an individual’s current level of potential. That snapshot may change as they build new skills.
Can you accurately predict potential early in a person’s career?
Yes. Some of the earliest research on potential assessed individuals right out of university and predicted their future job levels almost 20 years later.
However, their predictions got better as the individuals gained experience. For example, predictions of job success were more accurate after the individuals had 8 years of work experience. Individuals changed their capabilities and, ultimately, the destination jobs they obtained.
Can someone deemed as not having ‘potential’ still make it to senior level roles?
Yes. Think of potential as an estimate of the likelihood of an individual obtaining a destination role. A strong predictor of destination roles is about 80% accurate. Because no assessment or estimate is perfect, some individuals estimated to have potential won’t make it to the destination level. Likewise, some individuals estimated to not have potential will make it to the destination level.
Companies need to identify individuals that are best prepared to develop into larger, more complex future roles. To do this well, take time to understand potential and the elements that predict whether an individual can reach one of these destination roles.
Dr. James Eyring is CEO of Organisation Solutions and Lead Science Advisor for Produgie. James has over 30 years of experience assessing, coaching, and developing executives and their teams. With a PhD in Industrial / Organizational Psychology, James is actively involved in research on leadership, growth capabilities, and potential. He has taught Undergraduate and Graduate level courses and published in academic and practitioner publications. Most recently he authored book chapters on Strategic Workforce Planning and Innovations in Assessment in SIOP’s Professional Practice Series.
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