I was listening to a former middle school principal talk about what she called a “blind” application process for a student leadership group. She said that students would submit their responses to the application questions without any staff member including leaders seeing their identity. Decisions were made solely based on these nameless applications.
She went on to explain that a student with behavioral struggles submitted a stellar application and was chosen. When teachers learned that this individual was chosen, they were upset because they explained that this student was not currently modeling the types of behavior and leadership skills they wanted to see in the student body.
But he did become a part of the leadership team.
And this leadership opportunity changed how he viewed himself, his potential, and ultimately how he contributed to the school community every day.
I’m not saying we need to use this exact strategy when making hiring and leadership decisions. But this story did hit me at an interesting time because I’m finishing my slow read of Adam Grant’s book Hidden Potential, and he talks about how often we make decisions about people and their potential based on assumptions, snap judgments, and limited information.
He explains, “When we fail to see people’s potential, along with shattering their dreams, we lose out on their contributions.”
He shares a quote that is often attributed to Bill Belichick, “Talent sets the floor but character sets the ceiling.”
Too often, we look for work experiences and content knowledge when we really need to get a better sense for how people think, learn, adapt, and respond to challenges. I think most of us have found ourselves on the ugly side of other people’s assumptions at some point in time.
This has me wondering about our schools. Are we making assumptions about student and staff potential based on a limited amount of information?
Do we have students missing out on learning challenges and experiences because they do not have a specific box checked within a narrow set of criteria? Are we missing out on the talent and genius of individuals who want to work in our schools because their university does not impress us or because their experience working in schools does not meet a specific standard we’ve established?
What if instead of looking for individuals who seem to fit into our organizations, we looked for individuals who bring different skills and perspectives? We can listen for alignment of core values and standards without being overly prescriptive.
I don’t want us to miss out on the opportunity to unearth the hidden gems of potential that live inside people. Both those currently working and learning inside of our organizations and those interested in joining us. Because when we overlook the good in others, we miss out on the positive contributions those individuals could be making too.
How might we create more opportunities to see people, their potential, and their contributions more clearly?
MEGHAN LAWSON 
agreed!