Are your next Leaders on a lead or a leash?
Most organisations say they are investing in future leaders. There are programs in place, plans for succession, and talent pathways being designed.
But are you leading potential forward or holding it on a short leash?
You cannot shape the future by only rewarding the past. Yet that is exactly what happens when performance becomes the only marker of leadership readiness.
Too often, high performers are kept in the lane they have mastered. Their potential goes unrecognised, unevaluated, and eventually lost.
Performance is Not the Full Picture
Yes, performance matters. Your best people deliver results. They know how to get things done. But performance alone does not build a future-ready culture. It just reinforces what already exists.
Potential is something else entirely.
It looks like curiosity, adaptability, emotional intelligence, and the ability to inspire others through change. These qualities may not show up on a dashboard, but they define your next generation of leaders.
High Performers Feel the Tension
When development feels more like assessment, pressure builds. People start to ask themselves, what do I need to do to grow, to lead, to be recognised?
And when the answers are vague or inconsistent, even your strongest people begin to feel stuck. If they do not feel seen, they will assume they have peaked. If they do not feel valued, they will drift.
Some of the people you most want to keep will be gone in the next few years. Not because they were not good enough, but because they could not see a future with you.
Who You Choose to Lead Shapes Culture Now
Your leadership pipeline sends a loud message. It shows people who you trust, what you reward, and what kind of behaviour earns influence.
If those choices are based only on past output, you are not building culture. You are managing performance.
Leadership is not about controlling tension. It is about transforming it. Creating space for potential to emerge and thrive.
Start by asking yourself:
Are our future leaders aligned with where we are heading or just where we have been?
When did we last review our leadership pipeline with the same seriousness we apply to our strategy?
The Talent Myth Still Persists
Malcolm Gladwell wrote about something called the Talent Myth.
He argued that organisations often overestimate their ability to spot individual talent and underestimate the systems and environments that shape success.
Just calling someone high potential is not enough.
If you are not consistently challenging how you identify and develop leadership, you are putting your culture at risk.
Because talent is not fixed.
People change. Markets change. And your thinking must change too.
“We have a sense of what talent looks like, but that sense is shaped more by biases and assumptions than actual predictors of future success.”
Take the Lead
Your culture cannot move forward while your potential is being held back.
It is time to let go of the leash.
To create space. To back your people with intention.
Let’s Talk
Curious about how to spot and develop true leadership potential in your business?
Contact us at Blue Dog Culture today to chat more about how we can help.