Leading Potential. Building Resilience.
Work environments are in constant change: adjustments and transformations are ongoing. Adaptability and flexibility (agility) in an organization is fundamental to longevity. A recent Forbes article noted that for organizations to meet urgent business transformation imperatives and drive long-term value, five desirable behaviours of leadership are required: Imagination, Experimentation, Innovation, Trust and Empathy.
Building on the Forbes article, nimble and resilient organizations require skillsets not just to respond to current needs, but the forward focus to anticipate and the flexibility to adjust, and adapt into the future. Therefore, I would add to the five desirable leadership behaviours: the ability to recognize, hire and motivate Potential.
One cannot predict the future with any certainty, and to hire or train up future-specific capabilities may be a lost investment. I have found that motivating individuals to bring their best, to communicate freely in a safe environment, to try stuff and contribute boldly, is key to building adaptability, flexibility, and the resulting resilience, into a team. I’ve yet to meet anyone who has no interest to expand their capabilities and explore their potential, or who doesn’t respond to opportunities to do so in a positive manner.
Seeing employees as their current capabilities alone not only limits them and the organization, it sets up a cycle of diminishing returns.
It is not uncommon for individuals to change jobs every 18 months or so, which is a financial drain on any company. Most people I know start new jobs full of enthusiasm with proven skills and dreams of expanding beyond their current capabilities into their Brilliant Potential. They grow quickly into the role, providing swift value, but without opportunities to explore Potential, the role becomes constraining and they are alert for the next best thing. As they exit to new more challenging roles the organization loses their investment and gained knowledge and more investment is required to fill the gap.
An added and powerful advantage of these six behaviours is in enabling team creativity, cohesion and collaboration. By identifying and empowering Potential in individuals and providing safe opportunities to grow, other team members see and seek the strengths and capabilities of each other to maximize their own contributions. The results are highly engaged, motivated, cohesive and inter-dependent team members producing more, faster and of higher quality.
Do you hire specific credentials and capabilities to meet current business needs? Are the individuals on your team viewed as static roles with specific current capabilities?
Or do you see them as their credentials and capabilities PLUS yet to be realized, and possibly yet to be discovered, future Potential?
Leading Potential is, to a large part, leading through ambiguity into the unknown and uncertainty of constant change. Despite this, Leaders of Potential have confidence and certainty that tapping into those unrealized strengths, capabilities and creativity, along with the resulting increased commitment, are what will support the required agility to respond to challenges ahead.
And That is Resilience!
How does one become a leader of Potential? Let’s talk!