No one is perfect but we all want to have as many top talents as possible in our organisations. We need high-potential people with ability and leadership quality in every dimension to help drive success. But even after we identify the right candidates for the high-potential pool, we have to carefully analyse each one and take a look at both upside and downside characteristics.
Once we have a detailed understanding, we can proceed with a development action plan — initiated by the high-potential person in question — to enhance strengths and improve in areas of weakness so that person will be ready for future assignments.
The ideal high-potential person should have outstanding qualities in terms of both personality (or behavioural growth potential in this context) and cognitive ability.
Behavioural growth potential indicates potential for professional growth and career advancement, as well as motivation to advance into future roles with increased responsibilities, and commitment to lifelong growth and learning. Cognitive ability indicates ability to solve complex problems. It has three primary components: verbal reasoning (left brain), numerical and abstract reasoning (right brain).
Pansak is an outstanding technical manager with a good educational and professional record. After personality and cognitive ability assessments, his percentile score for advancement potential was 63, which means 63% of those tested globally scored lower than he did and 37% scored higher.
Implications of cognitive ability: Pansak's cognitive ability score is quite high, in the 88th percentile overall, with numerical and abstract reasoning both in the 96th percentile. His very high recognition of numerical relationships and ability to interpret numerical information mean that he is likely to complete difficult assignments more quickly than most managers and can identify complex relationships that are not apparent to typical managers.
His abstract reasoning ability is also second to none, indicating he will comfortably handle complicated assignments more efficiently than others and see the unseen relationships that are not visible to other executives. However, his verbal reasoning score is more moderate.
It is noteworthy that the "innovation" and "analytical thinking" aspects of Pansak's personality are very high, in line with his cognitive ability. This indicates an active imagination and an ability to identify new connections between ideas, analyse complicated issues and use logic and deep analysis to identify solutions. It also indicates an ability to do all of these things better than typical executives.
Interpersonal versatility: In contrast, Pansak's behavioural growth potential, which is part of advancement potential, is only in the 38th percentile. This means in terms of internal "personality", he is below average with a moderate tendency to grow in his career. The main shortcomings are in three areas: achievement (setting goals and competing against standards), adaptability (addressing change and ambiguity), and leadership (leading and inspiring others to action).
But he also has moderate-high scores for "persistence" (making a special effort to overcome obstacles) and "initiative" (starting, doing and finishing work without being asked). So while he may not have high ambitions, commitment to his boss and his own principles means he will devote full energy to completing his work.
On the other side of the coin, his "interpersonal versatility" does not truly support career advancement. Interpersonal versatility refers to an individual's style in taking charge and influencing groups. This includes taking charge in uncertain situations, motivating others toward a unified goal, and persuading others with convincing explanations.
Pansak also has tendency to express emotions such as excitement and frustration. Of greater concern is that he may not be aware of those emotions, their cause and how to manage them. I recommended he do the following in order to develop along the right track:
Be clear and concise when presenting data and facts. Request new assignments that require you to speak before a group.
Take active roles in conversations. Share ideas or suggestions related to the topic of discussion. Articulate your own ideas, and their likely impact, clearly. Remain calm if people disagree.
Take on leadership roles in appropriate situations. Clearly define the group goals, action steps, and roles of team members. Promote accountability of yourself and team members and model appropriate attitudes and motivation.
Pansak is a good example of a successful executive with high potential to grow. Without careful handling and a good understanding of his personality and cognitive ability, he may be guided in the wrong way which could result in the loss of an outstanding manager.
In short, identifying people with the right potential is not an easy task, but taking care them to ensure long-term career success is even more challenging.
Sorayuth Vathanavisuth is Principal Consultant and Executive Coach at the Center for Southeast Asia Leadership and lectures at Mahidol University's College of Management. His areas of interest are corporate strategy, executive coaching and leadership development. He can be reached at sorayuth@sealeadership.com