High Performer or High Potential
All leaders always keep watch for high performers they can move into greater responsibilities. You’re a lousy leader who may succeed in the short-term but fail in the end, if you don’t.
Real leader want to make more leaders.
Seduction:
Passion to develop great teams seduces leaders into hoping high performers are high potentials. But…
All high performers are not high potentials.
They’re just great at their jobs. Moving them into management or leadership is disastrous.
Shift:
They might be great at their job but if they can’t shift toward helping others be great at their jobs, they’re not high potentials. They’re high performers.
Everyone can and must achieve results. But, when it comes to high potentials:
Don’t tell me what they can do.
Tell me what they can do through others.
First indications:
My recent conversation with Mike Howard, Chief Security Officer at Microsoft, included how he identifies high potentials.
Mike says he looks for people with initiative. High potentials have ideas but more than that they say, “Do you mind if I run with this idea?”
Identify:
High potential only begins with performance. The real issue is future performance. What can they become? Mike said, “At Microsoft we ask..:
- Can they see the big picture?
- Have they expressed interested in assuming more responsibility?
- Do they have good performance reviews?
- Are they recommended by their manager?
- What is their reputation in terms of people skills?
Matters most:
High performance matters. But…
Performance doesn’t matter if their people skills suck.
All high potentials – future leaders and managers – are great with people. Or, they’re willing, eager, and able to learn.
Matters:
High potentials are:
- Curious.
- Comfortable in their own skin.
- Open.
- Listeners.
- Intelligent.
- Collaborators.
Connect with Mike on twitter: @MikeHowardMSG
How do you identify a high potential?
Hi Dan…… Long time my man …..how are you?
I particularly like this post Dan. In fact, I’m going to share it in my general managers meeting this Tuesday.
Hi Doug,
Thanks for the good word. Yes, long time no see. I look forward to the next time we meet.
Dear Dan,
Potential and performance are crucial element to leadership. Performance can be matter of getting environment where people can contribute. Performance is also matter of individual skill in particular task. So, performance is more based on opportunity and environment. And this performance create message to know potentials of people. Potential is based on performance. Unless people perform, leaders can not understand what potential they have. But one important factor to identify potential is attitude. Attitude does not need history of performance to know the potentials. Positive and good attitude make clear difference between performing and performance. With poor attitude it will seem that people are performing but with good attitude people will show their performance,
I agree that no skill is great than people skill. It makes good and effective leaders .
Dear Ajay,
ATTITUDE is a fantastic addition to this conversation.
The attitude of a high potential …
1. humble but confident
2. helpful
3. grateful
4. positive
I also appreciate the idea that attitude does not need history of performance… we can see attitude immediately.
Thanks for your contribution.
good points….
Thanks…
Dear Dan,
A good interesting post with practical tips for the top management to pick up future leaders based on high potential than high performance strength. I liked the emphasis given to people management skills along with other criterians. In today’s competitive world, people matter a lot and good motivated staff can work on wonders with right moulding resulting in the increased productivity.
Hope, your regular blog posts are read by practicising senior/top management staff apart from the middle & junior management staff, consultants, trainers and students. Many a times, I have felt that there are good lessons for them to practise the desired things to make the lives of their employees much better and comfortable by providing a congenial work environment with dignity around.
Our management thinks if you buy enough project management software your can make IT projects successful. They think it’s possible to mandate success–if they can control what everyone does close enough, then they can guarantee success. They don’t seem to understand that paperwork doesn’t get work done, people do. Success is built on leadership skills, which are a little hard to evaluate in black and white. How do you get the point across?
Hi,
Really a Good Content,
Your article is quite resourceful in the context of managing performers and their potentials. High-performers stand out in any organization. However observations are often limited to the most obvious traits like time management, communication skills, attention to detail, etc. By working with leadership, however, managers can profile the skills that ensure success in key roles.
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