You’ve Identified Your High Potentials. Now What?
Let’s guess what you’re thinking.
“We’ve got this covered.”
“We know who our future leaders are.”
“They’re already doing great work.”
And you’re not wrong. You probably do have a few names that immediately come to mind. The ones who step up without being asked. The ones who connect dots faster than others. The ones who don’t have direct reports, but somehow still influence the room. They’re capable. Driven. Trusted.
You’ve labeled them high potential. That’s not the issue. The issue is what usually happens next.
Most organizations stretch them. Bigger projects. Cross-functional initiatives. More visibility with senior leaders. Maybe a seat at a table they weren’t invited to before. It feels like development because the responsibility increases. But exposure is not the same thing as preparation.
And if we’re honest, we often assume that because someone performs well under pressure, they’re naturally learning how to lead. They’re not. They’re learning how to survive at a higher level. There’s a difference.
If we wait until someone has direct reports to teach leadership, we’ve waited too long.
Here’s Where It Gets Interesting
High potential employees don’t need to be convinced to care. They already do. They don’t need motivation. They have ambition. What they need is intentional shaping before the title changes and the stakes multiply. Because the skills that make someone excellent at execution are not automatically the skills that make someone effective at leadership. Let’s break that down.
High Performers Execute. Future Leaders Influence.
High performers are wired to get things done. They move quickly. They anticipate needs. They fix problems before they spread. That’s why they stand out. Future leaders, however, have to learn how to influence without authority. They have to challenge timelines respectfully. They have to disagree in rooms where they don’t hold the final decision. They have to shape direction, not just deliver on it.
Those are different muscles. Influence requires confidence without arrogance. Clarity without control. It requires knowing when to speak up and how to do it in a way that strengthens the room instead of disrupting it. Most high potentials don’t get coached on that. They’re praised for output, not shaped around influence.
Putting it to work: Instead of only asking what they accomplished, start asking how they influenced. Where did they hesitate to push back? Where did they default to agreement? What language could they have used to hold their perspective more clearly? Practice those moments before they become higher risk.
High Performers Solve Problems. Future Leaders Build Accountability.
When something breaks, high performers jump in. They stay late. They absorb pressure. They fix what others dropped. It feels responsible. It feels loyal. It feels like leadership. But leadership isn’t absorbing everything. Leadership is building ownership in others.
Future leaders must learn when not to rescue. They must learn how to hold a peer accountable instead of quietly compensating for them. They must learn that protecting standards sometimes feels uncomfortable, especially when there’s no formal authority behind their voice. If they never practice that before promotion, they will step into management roles believing leadership means carrying more instead of developing more.
Putting it to work: The next time a high potential employee fixes something that wasn’t theirs to fix, pause. Ask what conversation they avoided. Help them script it. Let them practice holding the line sideways before they ever manage downward.
High Performers Prove Themselves. Future Leaders Shape Culture.
High performers are often still trying to prove they belong. They work harder. Say yes more often. Carry extra weight without complaint. That’s how they earned the “high potential” label in the first place.
Future leaders, however, don’t just prove themselves. They shape the environment around them. They notice drift. They see when a standard slips. They decide whether to say something or let it pass. That decision point is leadership. And it happens long before someone has direct reports. If we wait until someone has a title to teach them how to reinforce culture, we’ve waited too long. By then, habits are already set.
Putting it to work: Invite high potentials into conversations about culture. Ask what they’re noticing in meetings. Where are people holding back? Where are standards softening? Develop their awareness and courage before they inherit authority.
The skills that make someone a strong performer are not the same skills that make them an effective leader.
So let’s say this clearly. If we wait until someone has direct reports to teach leadership, we’ve waited too long. High potential is not about who can handle more work. It’s about who has the capacity to carry more influence, more responsibility, and more cultural weight. That capacity has to be equipped intentionally.
Promotion won’t magically build those skills. It will simply require them. High potentials are already leaning in. They are already watching. They are already ambitious. What determines whether they grow into strong leaders here or somewhere else is whether their development is assumed… or intentional.
So yes, identify them. Celebrate them. Put their names on the slide. But don’t stop there. Equip them before the title changes. Shape them before the pressure doubles. Coach them while the cost of learning is still manageable. Potential is powerful. What you do next determines whether it becomes leadership.
