Judging and measuring potential
August 24th, 2010 | Published in 360 Degree Feedback, 360 appraisal, 720 Degree Feedback, Career Management, Inspect what you expect, Leadership skills, Measuring potential, Succession planning, appraisal
This article from UK Training Zone talks about the mistakes we can make when trying to judge potential for future leadership.
I especially recognise the ‘I can judge potential by having a coffee with them’ as we all think we are better judges of potential (and other things) than we really are!
It’s especially important if we are going to treat people fairly and equitably that we have some very clear definitions of what we want the ‘potential’ to be - I have been in situations where ‘potential’ is a handy way of promoting someone whose face fits, and who is liked by the boss, rather than someone who will be able to step up to a new role in the future.Â
Therefore some systematic definition of skills (job description, 360 Degree Feedback) is important - testing, feedback and profiling are certainly not going to guarantee a perfect candidate, but they will help to inform and support decisions that have to be made.  After all, what gets measured, gets managed!
