BREAK THE CYCLE: Why High-Potential people struggle to get promoted – and what we need to do about it.

If you’ve ever used or heard these phrases when ‘explaining’ why someone has been passed over for promotion, it is worth asking one critical question back : what if she simply hasn’t had the opportunity yet, to show she’s ready, to show potential and to show her leadership skills? 

 

This cycle plays out in organisations across the globe. High-potential individuals are passed over for leadership roles because they haven’t yet demonstrated the right leadership experience. But how can anyone gain experience if no one is willing to give them the opportunity ? 

 

It’s a loop that feeds itself: no experience, therefore no promotion : no promotion, therefore no experience. 

 

And while it can affect people of all characteristics, the problem doesn’t land evenly across everyone. Those from under-represented backgrounds are more likely to be caught up in this cycle, not because they demonstrate “readiness” somehow less so than others, but because unconscious bias holds them back in their promotion prospects anyway - any lack of “readiness” just makes it worse. 

 

 

The word potential is slippery. We say someone “lacks potential” without always being able to define what that means. Too often, it’s code for “doesn’t look or sound like what we’re expecting.” In other words it can reflect perception more so than performance. That’s where the subconscious bias can creep in. Assessing someone’s ‘potential’ inevitably involves some level of guesses and presumption, so subconscious bias is clearly not going to help get that assessment anywhere near right! 

 

Studies show that unconscious bias is alive and well when it comes to what decision-makers picture as ‘leadership potential’. They often hold a vision of a leader in mind who mirrors their own physical traits ie they only imagine leaders in the future who will ‘look’ like them. But subconscious bias also extends to personality. If you’re NOT male, white and middle class, for example, you may well have a problem breaking the cycle, but this is made much worse if you ARE also, say, a passive, humble, introvert in an environment full of assertive, loud, extroverts. Those who don’t fit the mold for whatever reason are easy to dismiss as not having leadership potential, even when their talents are every bit as strong as others who mysteriously DO have such potential. 

 

And remember that no potential, means no promotion, which means no chance to show any potential. 

 

 

Now, let's also look at self-confidence. Its common to confuse a lack of self-confidence with a lack of leadership skills. Someone who speaks easily and boldly in meetings may be seen as a future leader, whereas a slightly nervous but deeper thinking person might be overlooked. This is despite the fact that some of the most effective leaders, across all time, have been quiet strategic thinkers, slowly building trust by making well considered decisions, while the knee-jerk, shouty type leaders almost always, in the end, fail. 

 

Those with low self-confidence to begin with, when overlooked for a promotion they deserved, are not likely to find the experience much of a confidence boost ! this is another version of the destructive cycle we’re talking about. Low self-confidence leads to perceived lack of potential; perceived lack of potential leads to fewer opportunities to change those perceptions, which leads to low self-confidence. And so on. 

 

 

Brilliant, capable, talented individuals, who absolutely could be fantastic leaders, get denied the necessary early opportunities. Whatever the ‘reason’ might be that they missed out, the result is the same - no promotion means no opportunity to prove they deserved it. All leaders, whatever they look like, and whatever the nature of their personality, need that first chance. A first chance to try, maybe to fail, but then to reflect, to learn, to get better and to grow. To grow into the leaders they were born to become. 

 

Without someone having the wisdom and courage to promote talent for the first time, the talent can never fulfil its potential. 

 

 

At Elephant Leadership Camps, we’re on a mission to BREAK THE CYCLE. 

 

Our belief is simple but bold: Great leadership potential exists in everyone. 

 

It’s very often NOT found in the loudest voice in the room, or in the body who went to the best school or the one who ‘looks’ most like the other leaders in the business. 

 

We believe all leadership potential is unique – every individual is driven by a personal leadership brand of authentic natural-born talent. It may manifest itself particularly, say, in high levels of resilience, or curiosity, or integrity, or empathy, or in communication, or in thinking or whatever it might be, it is unique to the individual. It’s their hidden ability to bring others along on the journey. The ability to lead. 

 

But potential needs nurturing. It needs opportunities. It needs practice. It needs to take the lead in the first place perhaps initially in small circumstances. It needs to make decisions, and to face uncertainty. It needs to achieve, reflect, learn and find a way forward. And it needs to happen in an environment where everyone regardless of background, gender, CV or personality, is invited to genuinely test and discover their real potential. 

 

At Elephant Leadership Camps, we’ve designed our programme specifically to discover the hidden gem of a Leadership Brand in everyone, and to unlock that potential. We exist to hunt down and set free everyone’s Leadership Brand, and especially so for those who might struggle to get such a chance elsewhere. 

 

We don’t care what someone looks like, or what their gender is, or age, orientation or whatever. 

 

We don’t care what university they went to, or whether their parents were high flyers or not. 

 

We don’t care whether they walk into a room upright and tall with gravitas and confidence or whether they are nagged by self-doubt, imposter syndrome and a bitter inner critic. 

 

What we care about is who they can become. Who needs help to discover and access the wonderful asset that is their own leadership brand ? If given the right support, the right tools, and the right opportunity to step up and lead, who can go on to lead tomorrow’s winners ? 

 

 

If you’re in a position to make decisions about promotions, projects, or development opportunities, ask yourself: 

 

• Am I in danger of ever rewarding visibility over substance? 

 

• If I’m honest, do I assume equivalence between confidence and competence? 

 

• Have I ever mistaken inexperience for lack of potential? 

 

• Do I encourage the mentoring, sponsoring and development of leadership skills in EVERYONE, no matter what? 

 

If we keep promoting only those who’ve already had leadership chances, we are waving away the talent of our more junior staff. If we choose to spot potential only in those who look and sound like the same kind of leaders we’ve always had, we ignore the prospect of change and modernity. If we don’t break the cycle, we’ll keep missing out on extraordinary talent hiding in plain sight. 

 

 

Sometimes all it takes is a single chance. A chance to lead. A chance to run project. A chance to take on a stretch assignment. 

 

Or maybe a chance to attend a Leadership Camp. 

 

At Elephant, we’ve seen time and again what happens when someone on a Leadership Camp is invited to lead for the first time: they surprise absolutely everyone, and that certainly includes themselves. 

 

They step up. 

 

They find their voice. 

 

They build confidence. 

 

They impress themselves and others. 

 

They discover their real Leadership Brand and potential. 

 

And they go back to their work teams energised, empowered, totally committed, and ready for Leadership. 

 

That’s what Elephant Leadership Camps does: We introduce people to the Leader already inside them, and then give them the tools to shape it with confidence and skill. 

 

 

It’s time to rethink how we grow our leaders. 

 

Let’s stop waiting for potential to prove itself before we invest in it. Let’s stop filtering people through outdated and unwelcome criteria. And let’s start building a leadership pipeline that reflects the diversity, strength, and complexity of the world we live in. 

 

The cycle won’t break itself. 

 

But we know how to break it.