Protecting High Potentials from Themselves
By Michelle Malay Carter on September 29, 2007
After having to terminate a young, high potential for quasi-illegal activity in a highly regulated industry, a client of ours offered the following metaphor.
There are hot stove assignments, and there are playing in traffic assignments.? Young, high potentials should be given hot stove assignments.? They touch the stove; they feel the heat; but they can move their hand away without much consequence.? Playing in traffic assignments should only be given to highly capable, experienced employees since the consequences of poor judgment can be dire.? The only problem is that, quite frequently, you give a young, high potential a hot stove asssignment, and while your back is turned, they drag the stove out into traffic.
Have you ever dragged a stove into traffic?? Do tell.
Filed Under High Potential, Managerial Leadership
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2 Responses to “Protecting High Potentials from Themselves”
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As a previously underutilized high potential who recently made his way into the road of entrepreneurship, I feel like I am indeed playing in traffic all the time.
The nice thing is that I have organized my business well enough so that the cars are moving fairly slowly and I have wrapped myself in down blankets.
If I do get hit by something, it shouldn’t hurt too bad and I know I will be able to recover.
[…] their problem solving capability outweighs their wisdom, but instead of?designing systems to?protect high potentials from themselves, organizations are systematically demonizing the very employees everyone is warring to […]