Mine Your Ranks to Find Gold: Finding Untapped Potential in Your Company with SST

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While reviewing films for the GO Society, I came across this great statement from Judy Hobrough of BIOSS. She had gone into an organization and mapped the current capability of people with what their current roles were. She found something that surprised the CEO:

There was a huge amount of untapped potential in that organization. That’s not uncommon in the work that we do. There’s, in a lot of organizations, a huge amount of untapped potential

I say this all the time: if you are leading a large corporation and are worried about succession planning, I can go into your ranks and pull out mode 6-8 people within three months. Your subordinates fear their abilities, and not wanting to be shown up by someone younger or “less experienced”, they ensure that these high potentials are shoved down into bad work.

They know your business.

They know your industry.

They know where the bodies are buried. So to speak.

Why spend millions going after people who are still going to require years of training and learning to get there, and who are more likely to leave for somewhere else, when competent high potentials are sitting right under your nose?

Judy Hobrough of BIOSS on how Elliott Jaques’s Stratified Systems Theory can show CEOs the untapped potential in their corporations [free registration required to view]

About the Author

Forrest Christian

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E. Forrest Christian is a consultant, coach, author, trainer and speaker at The Manasclerk Company who helps individuals and companies find insight and solutions to what seem like insolvable problems. Cited for his "unique ability and insight" by his clients, Forrest has worked with people from almost every background, from artists to programmers to executives to global consultants, both as individuals and as leaders of organizations at least as diverse. [contact]