For as long as I can remember, I have been fascinated by the human capacity to tap into different parts of their brain (and heart) to unlock limitless personal potential. Potential to be the greatest version of oneself. Potential to live an extraordinary life. Potential to positively impact lives in a way that leaves others feeling uplifted, encouraged, inspired – happy. Potential to make a dent in the universe.
I have spent many Sunday mornings reading books about journeys of individuals who have unlocked their personal potential. I have also spent countless hours researching leaders who have enabled this ‘unlocking’ in others. I saw this notion come to life first-hand last weekend. I share with you my personal experience below.
Last weekend, the organization I work for hosted a case competition for MBA students across Canada. During this competition, students from business programs were randomly grouped into teams, and assigned a coach to work through a business case and present their recommendations. All in a span of a few hours.
I was called upon to coach one of the teams, a group of 5 brilliant students, none whom I had met before. The team of students I coached won the case competition – beating out other students from Canada’s top universities. While I cannot take credit for their win, I learned a lot through this experience about creating an environment for the 5 students to reach deep and unlock their personal potential.
I share four key ideas about enabling such an environment:
1. Psychological safety is paramount: Having been a student in high-pressure case competitions previously myself, I knew how important it was for my group of students to feel safe enough to be comfortable in speaking up. I wanted to ensure I was encouraging intellectual bravery and a safe space by setting the tone for the team right at the beginning.
As we kicked-off with introductions, I set some ground rules for the students. I shared that the day’s purpose was not to get to the ‘right answer’ but instead a chance for students to go through a logical exercise of how a real-life client business problem might be tackled. I also shared that (1) respect for each other, and (2) ample oral space for everyone to contribute was a non-negotiable.
By shifting the mindset from ‘you need to be right’ to ‘we’re on a journey together’, I was able to alleviate some of the pressure and nervousness the students were feeling right off the bat. Throughout our time together, I also observed the team closely, and chimed-in when necessary to ensure ideas were not shut-down and students were given equal time to share their thoughts.
Ultimately, the psychological safety we built within our group allowed the students to bring their most authentic self to the table – a rudimentary component of unlocking one’s personal potential.
2. Tools to flex intellectual capacity: Supporting a client in solving their most pressing business problems at the most basic level involves moving through a structured approach in making choices. This means helping a client better understand the business benefit of making one choice over another. This business case competition was no different.
As a coach, I shared a framework with the students that I use with my own clients to help them make one choice over another. This framework helped the students think strategically about the assumptions they were making to arrive at a realistic recommendation for the case.
More importantly, this framework gently allowed the students to do the mental heavy-lifting required to unlock intellectual capacity – increasing their ability to think differently and swiftly.
3. Let them “go with the flow”: While I chimed-in with experiential feedback periodically throughout the time the students were tackling the case, there came a point where I took a giant step-back.
This meant no coaching interruptions – enabling a flow state where the students were completely absorbed with the case at hand. Completely focused, naturally moving towards a case recommendation amongst themselves. I did not push them towards a specific case solution.
While a coach can nudge and light fires at strategic points in the discussion – the ultimate ownership of unlocking personal potential lay with them. They had to get there on their own, and in their own time.
4. Words are powerful: There came a pivotal moment in the day when coaches had the option to leave their students once the case recommendation deck had been submitted electronically. Coaches could also choose to stay and help the teams prepare for a final presentation to judges. I chose to leave the students alone to prepare.
The last thing I said to the students before I left was: “You 5 are going to win this whole thing. You spent a significant time on your analysis and discussion. Feel confident in the work that you have done – stay calm, cool and collected.”
I like to believe that these positive words of encouragement provided a final reassurance in their talent, planted seeds of a potential future reality, and helped calm any final nervousness they may have been feeling ahead of meeting the judges that would evaluate and critique their recommendations.
My experience meeting and coaching these students has reaffirmed my belief that leaders hold immense power, and can tap into and unleash team members’ innate limitless potential. By creating a psychologically safe environment for the team, giving them tools for expansion of intellectual capacity, enabling a flow-state by stepping back, and coaching by way of positive encouragement – leaders can create positive transformative experiences for their teams.
A final caveat to leaders looking to better draw out potential in others – know that you must unlock your own potential first. You simply cannot unlock potential in others until you have done the hard work on yourself first. As they say – you can’t pour from an empty cup.
