Performance Improves When Leaders Help Develop Employee Potential

Maximizing employee potential requires improving leadership skills.

If you can fully develop employee potential in a single person, that will already make a difference. GETTY

When an organization brings on an employee, there is a clear recognition of

that individual’s potential. However, it’s unlikely that the person will be able

to deliver 100% of their potential on the job without great leadership.

How Leaders Can Help Develop Employee Potential

Imagine two buckets of water. The two buckets are connected by a pipe, which

allows water to flow from the left-hand to the right-hand bucket. The left-hand

bucket represents the potential of an individual. The right-hand bucket

represents the potential the individual brings to their job.

The left-hand bucket is full of water. However, the right-hand bucket is rarely

full, meaning the employee isn’t contributing to their full potential within the

organization. Why doesn’t all the water from the left-hand bucket flow freely

into the right-hand bucket? It comes down to the pipe connecting the two

buckets.

The pipe represents leadership, which plays a pivotal role in how much

potential an employee delivers in the workplace. Unfortunately, the pipe of

leadership often has holes in it. As the water flows from the left-hand to the

right-hand bucket, it leaks through those holes.

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The “holes” in the pipe of leadership take diverse forms. Maybe the leader

doesn’t value the employee’s opinion or know how to coach effectively.

Perhaps the leader doesn’t have the ability to articulate clear goals or give respectful feedback. Faced with such leadership behaviors, the employee is

unable to contribute to their full potential—and the right-hand bucket remains

only partially full.

Leadership Training: The Key to Maximizing Employee Potential

It’s possible to train leaders to close the holes in the metaphorical pipe so that

they can better develop employee potential. However, this isn’t something

that’s accomplished overnight. It’s like learning to play golf. You have a full

bag of clubs, and you need to know which club to use when—for example, a

putter versus a driver. Further, you must learn how to effectively use each of

those clubs.