- Professional Villain Era
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- Issue 60
Issue 60
Chris Hagood
October 16, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 9 minutes
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Table of Contents
Opening Salvo
Many organizations talk about developing “high-potential talent,” yet few can clearly define what potential means. Most rely on historical performance as a shortcut.
The problem is that performance only reflects what someone has already done, not what they are capable of doing next. When companies blur those lines, they reward predictability over growth and mistake stability for strength.
I’ve seen teams filled with top performers who could deliver today’s work flawlessly but lacked the skills or mindset for tomorrow’s challenges. The organization assumed strong performance meant readiness for greater responsibility. It rarely worked out that way.
Evaluating potential and performance requires different lenses. When leaders fail to separate them, they end up promoting consistency instead of capacity.
Practical Personas (with a tinge of hyperbole)
The Familiar Promoter: Advances people who mirror current leaders. The comfort of sameness overshadows the need for new capability.
The Scorekeeper: Relies on past results as the sole predictor of future success. High performance in one role becomes the default qualification for the next.
The Calibrator: Assesses potential and performance independently. They understand that potential is about adaptability, learning agility, and growth capacity, not just output.
Ask Yourself:
Are promotion decisions based on what someone has achieved or what they can handle next?
How do you measure readiness for complexity, ambiguity, or scale?
When was the last time you promoted someone because they could grow into the work, not because they had already mastered it?
Rewarding only what has been proven creates organizations that are efficient but fragile. Growth requires stretching beyond what is already comfortable.
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Did You See This?
Candidate Time Is the New Hiring Currency
Job seekers are navigating a market that demands more applications, more time, and more persistence. HR Dive reports the average search now stretches months longer than in past cycles, reshaping the candidate experience.
Recent surveys show nearly half of job seekers have searched for six months or more. Applicants are submitting more resumes, interviewing at more companies, and waiting longer for offers. Financial strain is also rising, with candidates spending more on resume services, training, and other supports while facing extended unemployment. Employers report cautious approvals, slower pipelines, and heavier applicant pools. Analysts in the article warn that delays damage employer reputation and increase the risk of losing strong candidates.
Employers can reduce friction with focused steps:
Publish clear timelines. State interview stages and expected decision windows.
Improve feedback loops. Provide updates quickly to keep candidates engaged.
Streamline approvals. Align sign-offs early to shorten time from interview to offer.
Track candidate sentiment. Measure perceptions and adjust where frustration builds.
Every hiring process leaves an impression, and the best signal to send in this market is that candidate time matters.
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Talent Management 101 (TM101)
Measuring Potential vs. Performance
Performance measures what has been accomplished. Potential measures the capacity to take on greater scope, complexity, or influence. Treating them as interchangeable distorts both talent decisions and leadership pipelines.
Why It Matters:
Promotions based only on performance often misplace strong contributors into roles they cannot sustain
Overlooking potential limits innovation and internal mobility
Misaligned evaluations reinforce bias toward familiarity and tenure
Balanced measurement improves succession planning and diversity outcomes
What to Change and How:
Define clear criteria for potential, including adaptability, curiosity, and resilience
Use separate assessment processes for performance and potential
Train managers to distinguish excellence in current roles from readiness for future ones
Track career progressions to test whether “high potential” designations align with later success
Organizations that measure both dimensions accurately identify who delivers today and who can lead tomorrow.
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