What is ‘potential’ (and how did I squander mine)?
When I was a budding young cricketer in 1980s Hobart (see photo, right, about to go out to bat), I was told I had ‘potential,’ but although I did score three centuries in various grades at my club, I wasn’t consistent and played less than a dozen games at a first-grade level where my top score was 33.
Why did my so-called potential not translate into better performances?
If you had asked me that question at the time, I am sure I would have offered up all manner of reasons, from injuries to poor umpiring decisions and everything in between.
Three-and-a-bit decades past my last game of competitive cricket I can tell you exactly why my performances failed to match my ‘potential’ – I wasn’t prepared to work hard enough on my skills.
I was reminded of my underwhelming cricket career when one of my coaching clients described one of her new consultants as having “a lot of potential”.
When I asked her to describe what she meant by this, her response can be paraphrased as he was energetic, extroverted, and ambitious. In other words, he presented as high potential.
I asked a few questions to better understand this consultant’s behaviour.
“Describe how he goes above-and-beyond to reach a goal” (Hmm, it turns out he doesn’t – he’s a clock watcher)
“Give me an example of how he has responded to direct feedback for improvement” (Hmm, he’s defensive about mistakes)
“How highly do his colleagues regard him?” (Hmm, he’s seen as aloof and selfish)
In the world of professional sport, there’s nothing more common than a gifted athlete who fails to fulfill their potential.
In a 2018 post to his Advanced Human Performance Systems blog Dr. Chris Stankovich outlines why this happens.
Naturally gifted athletes can only rely on their raw abilities for so long. For many young athletes, sports are easy when they have natural advantages against the competition – being bigger, faster, and stronger is often enough. But what happens as kids grow older and natural abilities level out? It is in these moments where the following issues and concerns play a vital role in future success.
- Poor focus: I have found that athletes who don’t set goals usually fail to push themselves enough to reach their full potential, while athletes who set specific, measurable, controllable goals often do. During competition, it’s equally important to develop a laser-focus on the things that are relevant and controllable.
- Can’t control nerves: Athletes who take the time to learn and master techniques like imagery, breathing, self-talk, and cue words often teach themselves how to channel would-be anxiety into positive human arousal, allowing them to play in the zone regularly.
- Lacking belief and intrinsic motivation: Intrinsic motivation is personal motivation that doesn’t rely on being driven by rewards or accolades, but instead the athlete’s desire to be the best. This kind of motivation prompts an athlete to be the first one to practice, and the last one to leave.
- Play the blame game rather than owning results: Athletes who finger-point outward at things like “politics” rather than owning stress, adversity, frustration, and failure rarely live up to their potential. How can you ever improve if all you do is complain, and/or point to poor reasons for your failures? Successful athletes assume there will be tough days and look at failure as teachable moments for future growth and success.
- Not willing to outwork the competition: Sports are often decided simply by who wanted it more that day. Are you willing to do things the competition won’t do?
Although point 2 is less applicable, the other four points directly apply to the job of an agency recruiter.
Ultimately potential means something if it is turned into a consistent level of performance.
I could not do that as a cricketer but, thankfully, I was mature or smart enough not to make the same mistakes when I entered the recruitment industry three and a half decades ago.
Related blogs
30 years ago: Landing my first job in recruitment and surviving my first two weeks
How Mitre 10, campus life and London made the recruiter in me
Yes, Ross, I remember checking in on your performance every Monday at Recruitment Solutions when you played cricket in Sydney in the 90s. Sadly, nothing had changed, as I recall 🙂
However, it is a good analogy with recruitment because ‘great potential’ often fails to translate to sustainable success. As you identify, it is frequently the fault of the individual, but often, too, leadership must bear responsibility because ‘potential’ must be nurtured.
LOL! Yes, you remember correctly, Greg. I rarely looked forward to your inquiry about my weekend’s cricket performance.
Your comment about leadership is certainly true. I would regard the Sydney Swans as a current example of a strong leadership culture that maximises the likelihood a player fulfills their potential.