The Best Leaders See Potential Before Performance
- Erika Bantz, Principal
- 7 hours ago
- 4 min read
Think back to a time when you accomplished something you never thought you could.
Maybe it was your first leadership role. A difficult presentation. Landing a major client. Starting a new career. Or simply having the courage to say yes to an opportunity that felt bigger than you.
Chances are, before you believed you could do it, someone else believed you could.
A coach, a teacher, parent, manager, or maybe a colleague.
Someone saw something in you before you saw it in yourself. For a while, you borrowed their confidence until you built your own.
I've been thinking about that a lot lately.
This happened to me very early in my career, when I was young and eager, but also facing challenges in an organization that was dealing with leadership change, culture change and strategic change. During this time, I was assigned an interim leader for about four months. She was a dynamic leader – magnetic, sharp, understanding and very straightforward. In the short time that we worked together, she instantly started pouring her time and energy into me. Not because I asked her to. Because she saw that I had potential and was drowning in the sea of change around me. And she threw me a life jacket, taught me how to navigate the rough water, and provided me with a level of confidence I had not known I had.
It was a pivotal 4 months, almost 25 years ago.
Organizations spend an incredible amount of time talking about performance. We measure it, coach it, celebrate it, and sometimes worry about it. That's important. Results matter. But behind almost every high performer is someone who, at the right moment, gave them permission to believe they were capable of more.
Confidence rarely appears overnight because it needs be fostered in some way, and reinforced. It grows through experience, encouragement, and small wins (and successful failures) that build on one another.
Most of us can remember a leader who challenged us just enough to stretch our abilities without making us feel like we were destined to fail. They didn't lower expectations. They simply helped us believe we could meet them.
That's a gift.
Unfortunately, the opposite is true, too. We've all seen talented people begin to question themselves after enough criticism, enough silence, or enough missed opportunities to grow. Not because they lacked potential, but because somewhere along the way, they stopped believing it was there.
The new salesperson who seems unsure of themselves today may become the top producer two years from now.
The quiet employee who rarely speaks up might become the leader everyone turns to during difficult times.
The new manager who's figuring things out could eventually build the strongest team in the organization.
Potential is a funny thing, because you can’t always see it in someone's current performance. And growth often looks messy before it looks impressive.
That's why I think one of the greatest responsibilities of leadership is seeing people not only for who they are today, but for who they have the potential to become. That doesn't mean ignoring accountability or pretending performance doesn't matter. It means recognizing that people usually rise higher when someone believes they can. The best leaders I've known have a remarkable ability to do exactly that.
They notice strengths people overlook in themselves.
They ask questions that encourage people to think differently.
They celebrate progress, not just perfection.
And perhaps most importantly, they create opportunities for people to succeed before they're completely confident they can.
That's borrowed confidence.
Eventually, something changes. The employee who once needed reassurance begins mentoring someone else. The new leader who questioned every decision starts making difficult choices with confidence. The salesperson who was once nervous about picking up the phone is coaching others on how to have better conversations.
And that’s when you realize that confidence becomes contagious.
At Butler Street we often say that winning breeds winning. And it certainly does! But before the winning can happen, there needs to be a confident person behind the win. What started as someone else's belief becomes your own, and eventually, it becomes something you pass on to others.
A few months ago I wrote a blog about how hard leadership is, “Before You Coach Your Team…Coach Yourself” And as hard as leadership is, there is a reason many of us decide to do it - to “raise our hands” for the job. It’s because one of the most rewarding parts of leadership isn’t just about achieving results. It’s to help people discover they're capable of achieving more than they imagined.
Every organization needs strong strategies, effective processes, and clear expectations. But none of those things replace the impact of a leader who genuinely believes in people. Someone who sees possibility before proof. Someone who lends confidence until others no longer need to borrow it.
When I look back on my own career, I don't remember every meeting, every project, or every accomplishment. I remember the people who believed in me before I had fully learned to believe in myself. Sandy Osteen – this one’s for you!
My guess is you do, too.
Maybe the greatest opportunity any of us has isn't simply to build successful teams. Maybe it's to become the person who helps someone else discover just how capable they really are.
At Butler Street, we believe one of the greatest responsibilities of leadership is helping people grow into what they're capable of becoming. We help organizations equip leaders with the foundational skills, coaching strategies, and reinforcement they need to build confidence, strengthen performance, and create lasting behavior change. Because when leaders grow people intentionally, the results extend far beyond individual success, they strengthen teams, cultures, and organizations.
Helping People Reach Their Potential FAQs
Why do great leaders see potential before performance?
Great leaders understand that confidence and capability develop over time. They invest in people based on who they can become, not just where they are today.
How does leadership influence employee confidence?
Leaders shape confidence through encouragement, coaching, constructive feedback, and opportunities that help people build trust in their own abilities.
What helps employees grow into future leaders?
Consistent coaching, meaningful experiences, and leaders who believe in their potential help employees develop the confidence and skills needed to lead others.