P2: Early Potential Identification – Who Can Learn to Lead?
Situation
Organizations struggle with the classic potential paradox: promoting star performers too quickly without proper development, while overlooking quiet, naturally gifted individuals who don't actively seek advancement. This creates a leadership pipeline filled with either overwhelmed fast-trackers or missed opportunities.
Symptoms
Identification and Development Mismatches:
- Performance bias trap: Promoting top salespeople or technical experts who lack people leadership instincts
- Premature promotion casualties: High-potential employees failing because they're advanced without adequate preparation
- Quiet talent invisibility: Naturally gifted leaders remaining unnoticed because they don't self-advocate
- Wrong volunteer syndrome: The most ambitious candidates seeking leadership roles despite lacking genuine leadership capability
- Development randomness: Ad-hoc mentoring and training rather than systematic potential cultivation
Strategic Consequences:
- Leadership bench strength remains shallow despite having talent in the organization
- Development investments wasted on individuals without genuine leadership potential
- Authentic future leaders become frustrated and leave for organizations that recognize their capability
- Succession planning based on availability rather than readiness
- Cultural continuity threatened by promoting individuals who don't embody organizational values
Challenge
Primary Goal: Systematically identify individuals with genuine leadership learning capacity before they demonstrate leadership performance, enabling structured development that maximizes their potential.
Why it matters: Research shows that potential-based selection outperforms performance-based promotion by 70% in predicting future leadership success. Early identification allows for proper development runway – leaders identified and developed systematically show 3x higher long-term success rates.
Key Questions to Answer:
- Who has the raw cognitive and emotional capacity to learn leadership skills?
- Which individuals show genuine motivation to develop others rather than just advance themselves?
- How can learning agility be distinguished from current competence?
- What social and emotional intelligence indicators predict leadership teachability?
Solution Approach
Deploy future-focused diagnostics that reveal leadership learning potential rather than current performance:
Phase 1: Fundamental Capability Assessment
- Learning agility and adaptability profiling - Measure capacity to acquire new skills and handle increasing complexity
- Social and emotional intelligence baseline - Evaluate interpersonal awareness and relationship-building instincts
- Cognitive flexibility assessment - Test ability to think strategically and handle ambiguous situations
Phase 2: Motivation and Development Readiness
- Leadership motivation authenticity analysis - Distinguish between genuine desire to develop others vs. personal ambition
- Growth mindset and feedback receptivity evaluation - Assess openness to development and willingness to be coached
- Future role fit and trajectory mapping - Identify optimal development pathways and timeline expectations
Expected Outcomes
- Immediate (0-3 months): Identification of previously unknown high-potential individuals
- Medium-term (3-9 months): Structured development programs for authentic potential rather than current performers
- Long-term (9+ months): Stronger leadership pipeline with higher success rates and better cultural fit
Available only in the PEATS Guide: in-depth comparisons of the most relevant online assessments for this case — including pricing, strengths and weaknesses, scientific quality, and detailed insights into the 6 closest-fit online assessments:P2. Early Potential Identification
- Korn Ferry ViaEdge → learning agility.
- Korn Ferry KF4D → drivers and potential.
- Aon ADEPT-15 → personality style.
- Aon Scales → reasoning.
- Aon SJT → situational judgment.
- Profiles XT → overall leadership potential.