Potential: What Is It?
by Sheri Mackey
From a very young age, we all want to be considered as having potential, however potential is often an overused and ambiguous word. Potential… for what? It doesn’t mean a lot by itself, so what do we mean by potential? What is it? What does it look like? How do we define it and make it more measurable and tangible? What is potential, really? Is it a possibility…a proposed capability for becoming something more? But what? How does a leader reach their potential if it cannot clearly be defined? Can we ever really grasp our potential? If we do and we reach it… what then?
In some ways potential is a limiting descriptor because there is really no way of knowing if we have reached our potential. Most of us know of The Peter Principle… does our potential equate only to rising to our own level of incompetence? Personally, I hope not!
Potential is a complex concept and there is little agreement about what it actually means, so we need to start by breaking it down into some key components that are generally expected of people considered to have potential:
Emotional Intelligence: the ability, capacity, or skill to identify, assess, and control the emotions of self, others, and groups.
Motivation/ Ambition: the inspiration or driving force to succeed.
Agility: the cognitive bandwidth to learn from past experiences, seeing things in a broader context and quickly applying observations to new situations – applying life experience, noticing patterns, and deriving general guidelines that can be applied to new situations.
While performance, emotional intelligence, and motivation are strong indicators of potential, research consistently identifies agility as a predominant gauge of potential – people with agility are the best performers because they can quickly apply what they previously learned into entirely new and different situations. Lominger has found four types of agility that are typically found in "high-potential" leaders:
People Agility: The ability to relate well and understand others – to value people and their individual talents, consistently communicate vision and expectations, as well as accelerating at conflict management, issue resolution, negotiations, etc.
Change Agility: Embodied by those who consistently challenge the status quo and constantly seek to innovate. They embrace change, drive change… and lead change.
Results Agility: The ability to drive to results. It goes without saying that if a leader is high in the first three, they’d naturally have the capacity to deliver results.
The word potential by itself is vague, although it has strong connotations in most cultures. However, there is an opportunity to look underneath the covers and see that the impression of potential is predicated by performance, emotional intelligence, motivation, and agility. We can further explore potential at a more detailed level by breaking down a core component of potential – agility – in order to help us predetermine potential and leverage it by identifying known, tangible characteristics. If we are to truly identify and leverage potential in others (and ourselves) it is imperative that we understand the concept and know what we are looking for so as to maximize the desired outcomes – enabling us all to reach our potential – both in our work and in our lives.
As a leader, how do you perceive potential and how do you leverage it in yourself and others?
Potential: Leveraged Learning
In an ever-changing global marketplace, those who lead across boundaries and borders are increasingly required to become Extreme Team Captains – guiding the organization through unfamiliar and turbulent environments, while maximizing the functional, geographical, and cultural diversity of their teams. In today’s multicultural, dynamic world, ensuring the continuous learning and growth of global leaders is critical to achieving high performance and sustainable growth in every organization.
With markets, suppliers, competitors, technology, and customers around the world constantly changing the rules of the game, traditional leadership models no longer work. Companies need leaders of exceptionally high caliber and quality, as they are a key component of the only true source of competitive advantage – people. But how do we create this Extreme Global LeaderTM? Is there the possibility of exceptional leadership that transcends accepted leadership characteristics to create a global leader that is emotionally, politically, and culturally intelligent? How do these high-potential leaders evolve and become extreme? What is the most effective method of creating a transformational leader?
Last week we pondered potential and its source. If we look at the critical components of what we perceive to be potential (performance, emotional intelligence, motivation, and agility), is it possible to leverage potential through traditional training and/or coaching? Both are valuable tools for learning, but have entirely different purposes and outcomes.
The purpose of training is to teach:
methods
theories
tactics
strategies
It is the process of disseminating information from the trainer to the leader. Training provides a pre-set curriculum and the trainer imparts what is important for the student to know. Trainers have subject matter expertise and an understanding of teaching methods that work well with adult learners. Training offers economies of scale so, even when customized, it is often less expensive than coaching for a comparable number of students. Because training is typically a one-time event with little to no reinforcement, the benefits may have a very short shelf life.
Although training is the accepted norm for most organizations, in and of itself it is not necessarily an effective method to develop exceptional leaders. However, when combined with coaching there is a dramatic increase in retention. According to research, the average retention rate after training is approximately 20%. When followed by coaching, the retention increases dramatically to over 80%.
In contrast to the trainer, the coach is both an accountability partner and a strategic cohort. In these turbulent times, coaches help leaders:
Develop leadership style
Navigate challenges
Develop strategies
Refine goals
Drive for results
Realize game-changing futures
The coach takes the position that the leader must assume responsibility for personal and organizational goal achievement. Leaders are encouraged to examine their core values and make the adjustments that will allow exceptional outcomes in both their business results and their personal lives. Coaching creates a learning experience that draws solutions out because it continually poses questions unique to the leaders core values and goals – creating alignment that drives results. Because leaders determine where they are going and how they will get there, and are held accountable through consistent, mindful discussions with their coach, results are visible and viable – but most importantly, sustained.
Coaching is an ongoing, interactive process that provides guidance and encourages global leaders to make productive decisions while taking personal ownership of those decisions. The coach needs to have both broad and deep knowledge of global business, but just as importantly needs to have the capability to guide the global leader in setting goals, developing action plans, and being accountable to the implementation and regular refinement of those goals.
Whether your organization leverages training or coaching – or a combination of the two – to realize potential that will take your global leadership team "from good to great" is a decision that should be based on your organizations budget, overall goals, availability of transformational coaches or expert trainers, and the needs of the global team. There is no one right answer that applies to every organization. It is important to understand the differences between training and coaching and to conduct specific analysis to determine the most effective route for your organization because, as stated above, training and coaching have entirely different purposes and outcomes.
What are you doing to ensure continuous learning and growth in your organization? How are you developing your own potential?
Potential: Leveraging Leaders
Exceptional leaders convey a vision and, through their example, expand others’ view of what is possible – rather than what is not. They know their business, set high expectations across boundaries and borders, create a strong sense of community, and through effective team-building and mentoring – they get results.
Leaders demonstrate "how" to achieve results both in what they do, as well as in who they show themselves to be. It is no longer enough to have superior "technical" skills – people are looking for inspiration and accountability in their leaders. In terms of responsibilities, strong leaders emphasize the importance and priority of enhancing the skills and knowledge of the people in the organization, creating a common culture of expectations around the use of skills and knowledge, facilitating the ability of the organization to align in a productive way, and holding individuals accountable for their contributions to the collective results.
In addition, when great leaders act, they do so not only because their role demands it, but also because their own purpose, values, beliefs, and assumptions require it. Who they are, what they do, and how they do it is powerfully congruent and is leveraged for the good of the organization and the people within it. As a result, they are highly authentic, credible, and inspirational – which, in turn, motivates others to act genuinely and powerfully, as well.
Some people are born with a burning desire to succeed, some develop the desire to achieve greatness through life circumstance, and some people are okay with the status quo – they wake up every day and just let the world happen to them. The reality is that we need all types of people to function successfully, however in most successful global organizations there are a handful of extraordinary leaders who make all the difference – but there are also hundreds of ordinary leaders who are more concerned with meeting this years’ numbers than anything else. But what would happen if we could double that handful of "Extreme LeadersTM" in organizations? Imagine the impact it would have on any business – not to mention partners and customers – if we could accurately identify those high potential leaders that are prepared to go above and beyond and develop them into Extreme LeadersTM that sustainably produce game-changing results.
Unfortunately, it is not as easy or idyllic as it sounds - something is missing in leadership development methodologies that prevents us from consistently developing leaders that achieve truly remarkable results. With so many pressing issues and challenges facing global business today, can we really afford to continue to neglect developing exceptional leaders? They are essential not only to meeting goals and ensuring organizational success, but to developing organizations that consistently and sustainably drive the global economy in a positive and productive direction.
The rationale for a focus on leadership is highlighted in multiple studies that consistently demonstrate a positive correlation between leadership and organizational achievement. On the other hand, studies also suggest that often executives do not successfully develop the skills necessary to provide effective leadership. Is this due to a lack of engagement or desire to excel beyond what is expected? Do most successful leaders only know how to succeed within their limited framework, but are unable to go beyond what is expected to achieve truly exceptional results? Either way, these factors indicate a growing challenge in finding leaders who have that burning desire to push far beyond average… and into legacy. How can we effectively develop exceptional leaders that not only identify and meet the challenges of today and tomorrow head on – but triumph over them? Is it unrealistic to think that with the right approach we could successfully forge a remarkable future for global business by developing Extreme LeadersTM and leveraging the advanced capabilities to create stronger leaders, better organizations, superior products and services – that will, ultimately, lead to a better world? Maybe… but how?
We have a unique opportunity to step back and observe business and leadership – examining exactly what we need to incorporate to create exceptional leaders that will have the capability to consistently leverage critical concepts that will be central to the evolution of leadership and the development of Extreme Global LeadersTM.
As a high potential leader, what would change if your organization was not only willing, but enthusiastic, about ensuring you reach your maximum potential?
Potential: Are You Reaching for it
This post is about you - as an organizational leader. Lifelong learning is a critical component of our personal and professional growth that we often seem to forget as we rise through the ranks. Unfortunately, as most of us become more senior within the organization, there is an undeniable challenge we face – facilitating our own ongoing growth and development. It becomes more and more difficult to identify growth opportunities, training, relevant readings, etc. and to deny the pull to remain stagnant – focusing on what we already know vs. the potential we have to know more. Perhaps most importantly, there is often a stealth sense of false complacency that emerges as a result of past success. However, the reality is that with the frequency and scale of change in global organizations, the leader that is not continually growing and changing with the environment may very well find that s/he has been left behind at the last jumping off point.
Ultimately, you are responsible for your own personal development…and reaching your potential. Many leaders let the business take priority over reaching their potential, or wait for the company to assume ownership of their development. Is this really what is most beneficial for you, and by default, the organizaion? As leaders, it is easy to forget that it is far more effective to stretch ourselves, and thereby our organizations, than it is to settle for the status quo. But how do you continually push yourself to think harder and go further? You can employ any number of self-help philosophies, but the reality is that you will probably not follow through – and if you do, they will typically not generate the results you hoped they would.
Finding and engaging a good mentor may be a critical success factor you are missing. Mentoring is a process about enabling and supporting your personal and professional growth. Organizational life can sometimes feel like climbing up the side of a mountain – as we struggle up the steep parts we are breathless, challenged, single-minded, and in need of support and sustenance. There may even be some moves we can not make without being tied to a partner. Mentoring can help with your changes in altitude, and enable you to get to higher ground – where you just may be able to see things from a different perspective. You will be able to see the mountains in the distance and new ways forward that were just not visible from your position below. Your mentor should facilitate a process that leads you to consider different perspectives, new ways of thinking, and deeper self-knowledge.
A good mentor is:
Someone whose integrity transcends the message, be it positive or negative
Someone who tells you things you may not want to hear, while letting you know you have been heard
Someone who makes you want to better and to take calculated risks
Someone who presents opportunities and highlights challenges you might not have seen on your own
A mentor may help you, as a senior leader, to discover or master:
How you can constructively challenge your peers and your employees
How to more effectively cope with the stress of your responsibilities
How to better develop other people, with limited time and resource
How to better leverage influence, rather than command
How/where to continue to grow toward mastery of your role or organization
How to manage your personal credibility across the organization
If your strategic thinking is broad enough to contribute effectively to creating and/or interpreting the organizations vision
If you have strong contextual understanding of disciplines you have little hands-on experience in, but are responsible for
While mentoring can be successful in helping you to address your specific needs, you are also contributing to a critical part of your organizations ability to:
Develop organizational intelligence: By finding and engaging a mentor you will more successfully bridge skill, leadership, and knowledge gaps while demonstrating a climate where collaboration leads to innovation for your organization.
Connect across people: Your mentor will enhance your network, providing an expanded opportunity to contribute your support, development, and expertise across various employee, partner, and/or client segments.
Create and sustain business impact: By engaging a mentor openly, you are demonstrating value in the process and creating an environment that supports collaboration and open information sharing across boundaries and borders. Ultimately, you can play an important role in making mentoring a critical part of your organizations culture – perhaps eventually providing the impetus to integrate mentoring within the overall strategic goals and objectives of your organization.
Jim Collins sums it up well when he said, "Good is the enemy of great… it is one of the main reasons we have so few that become great … most people never become great because they settle for being good…" You have the potential to be great – engage a good mentor and do the hard work to get there.
Potential – Are YOU reaching for it?
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