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Everyone has hidden potential

You cannot know where someone will end up just by looking at where they started. With the right opportunities and motivation, anyone can develop the skills necessary to achieve great things. Potential is not about where you begin, but about how far you travel. Our focus should not be on starting points but on the distance covered.

1. Don’t Get Stuck on Starting Points

When hiring or evaluating employees, don’t focus only on diplomas, first jobs, or “natural talent.”
👉 The real criteria: capacity to learn and speed of progress.

2. Evaluate Character Skills

In interviews, focus not only on technical knowledge but also on proactivity, discipline, perseverance, and collaboration.
👉 Intelligence and experience do not predict growth; character skills determine long-term success.

3. Encourage Discomfort

Guide your team out of their comfort zones. Difficult projects, new technologies, challenging clients → growth opportunities.
👉 Increase learning speed by granting the “right to make mistakes.”

4. Provide Temporary Support (Scaffolding)

Do not give full responsibility immediately to newcomers or those in new roles; support first, then step back.
👉 The goal is not dependent employees, but independent learners.

5. Establish a Culture of Sharing Mistakes

In meetings, share not only successes but also mistakes and lessons learned.
👉 Normalize the message: “Mistakes are the fuel for progress.”

6. Leverage Collective Intelligence

Create a culture of shared learning instead of individual competition.
👉 Reward the approach: not “I am the best” but “let’s raise the intelligence of the room.”

7. Set Goals with Aspiration

Not just KPIs, sales, or profit; define vision through the question: “Who do we want to become?”
👉 Give team members opportunities to develop not only their jobs but also their character.

8. Go Beyond Technical Training, Support Character Development

Do not limit training programs to finance, sales, or coding “hard skills.”
👉 Add programs for resilience, empathy, conflict management, curiosity — the “human skills.”

9. Build Mentorship and Shadowing Programs

Ensure senior employees don’t just pass on knowledge but also push juniors to take responsibility.
👉 A good mentor is not someone who stands by forever, but someone who steps back at the right time.

10. Measure Progress, Not Just Competition

In performance reviews, assess not only results but also growth and learning.
👉 The question: “How much have you improved since last year?” is more meaningful than “Are you better than others?”

🎯 Conclusion

The path to unlocking potential in business is:

  • Be a developer of potential, not just a talent scout.

  • Turn mistakes into learning opportunities instead of punishments.

  • Support long-term aspirations over short-term ambitions.

References (APA 7)

Grant, A. (2023). Hidden potential: The science of achieving greater things. Viking.

Heckman, J. J., & Kautz, T. (2013). Fostering and measuring skills: Interventions that improve character and cognition. National Bureau of Economic Research. https://doi.org/10.3386/w19656

Chetty, R., Friedman, J. N., Hilger, N., Saez, E., Schanzenbach, D. W., & Yagan, D. (2011). How does your kindergarten classroom affect your earnings? Evidence from project STAR. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 126(4), 1593–1660. https://doi.org/10.1093/qje/qjr041

Duckworth, A. (2016). Grit: The power of passion and perseverance. Scribner.

Keller, H. (1903). Optimism: An essay. Crowell & Company.