Transform your High-Potential Employee into an Effective Executive

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Photo by Joshua Ness on Unsplash

There's that one person on your team who is special. They are smart, ambitious, and continually surprising you with their decisive action. They are also the first to get frustrated, turn apathetic, and need your constant praise and approval. They are your favorite and your biggest headache. You can see a bright future for them, but they keep getting in their own way. 


Congratulations - You have found a high-potential employee!


Your proto-superstar needs your help to become who they were meant to be. The high-potential employee reminds you of yourself -- from 10 years ago. They have figured out how to stand out, how to rise up, how to matter. They are passionate, tireless, and unrelenting.


If you don't keep them in check and simultaneously keep them challenged, your team will fall apart. You have a business to run and a whole organization that needs your attention. You need them to step up, but they are still too green to be fully trusted. And you have been taking this challenge on yourself.


Let me ask you this: can you be both boss and coach to a high-potential employee?


If they are truly exceptional, you want to harness this power and hone it into a strong asset for your team. And there is a limit to your ability to truly bring out the best in your employee. You have to do this while also maintaining your more critical role as their manager and leader of the organization.


This limit has nothing to do with skill or experience. It might be a lack of time because you have a lot on your plate. The power-dynamic of the boss/subordinate relationship might be getting in the way. Maybe there is a particularly sticky issue that you can't seem to overcome. 


Your super-star employee may have the following challenges:

  • Just got promoted (or trying to get promoted) and needs to start acting at the next level.

  • Running late in back to back meetings - time management skills that won't scale (busy instead of efficient)

  • Priorities are out of whack - fixated on petty issues and missing the bigger picture or conversely over-strategizing and not executing tactics in their domain.

  • Upsetting colleagues - stepping on toes, creating internal competition

  • Needy and praise-seeking - always needs your validation and face time, wants more money, title, and responsibility on their schedule instead of yours.

  • You're getting feedback about arrogance, surprises, and overall hurting your reputation.

  • Reporting structure is becoming an issue and limiting your ability to structure the organization for growth.


If these issues came up with a mediocre employee, you'd know what to do -- shape up or ship out. But with a super-star high-potential employee, you're willing to write it off as a phase. They are too valuable to let go, so you suck it up and let them ruin your organization. You give targetted feedback; you take some bullets yourself. You are stuck holding the whole thing together. 


Your high-potential executive needs an outside coach. The advantages are many, and the downside risk is minimal.


  1. Demonstrate value - Hiring a coach shows your employee you are willing to invest in their future. That you see their potential and are bringing new resources to bear. You can also make clear you expect them to commit to gaining a clear return from this investment of time and money.

  2. Increase objectivity - the relationship between a leadership coach and your employee will stay strictly confidential and is intended to help them think through their behaviors and the perception of those behaviors. Providing a safe space for your employee to talk through difficult issues will let them think more clearly and objectively about how they can achieve better results.

  3. Protect your time - Leading your employees is a labor of love. You want to maximize the impact of your time, and you may find that there just isn't enough to go around. A coach becomes a partner who can extend your freedom to focus on things only you can do. Leverage your time to have a greater impact.

  4. Improve relationship - it should be no surprise that one of the critical topics of a coaching conversation is about the boss - you! A leadership coach will allow them to gain perspective on the behaviors, attitudes, and mindset that are holding them back. What if your top executives came to you clear-headed, open to feedback, and ready for action every time? How much more impactful could you be?


Don't take my word for it. My first client, a CEO of a billion-dollar-revenue company, said he was "shocked and pleased" with the results. He and his rock star employee had what appeared to be an impossible impasse about reporting structure, compensation, and organizational politics was resolved easily once the coach stepped in to help the sales leader understand the situation more clearly.


Nothing was disclosed to the boss about the coaching conversations because nothing had to be. The employee needed someone to listen and call him on his bullsh*t, give it to him straight, explain how a boss would think in this situation (from experience), and rehearse improved methods of communication. It's not rocket science, but you (the boss) can't do it alone. And you certainly can't trust the employee to just figure it out.


The leadership coaching plan is customized to the needs of the individual and can address all of these common problems and more. Coaching is not for everyone, and not all students are accepted. 


To qualify, your high-potential employee must by:

  • Director, VP, or C-level or equivalent

  • One of the top 3% highest potential employees in your company 

  • 1-3 specific areas that need improvement

  • Full support and sponsorship from direct manager 

  • Weekly 50-minute sessions

  • Strong desire to dramatically improve effectiveness and 

  • Willing to be vulnerable, reflect, learn and improve


If you want to learn more, please contact coach [at] high-potential-coach [dot] com for a private consultation. Please indicate if you were referred by an existing student.


About The High-Potential Coach

Coach has over 20 years of experience in business leading teams. Partway through their career, they were was selected into a leadership development program for High-Potential Employees at a Fortune 50 company. Experience leading teams in product development & management, go-to-market, enterprise sales, marketing, support, and M&A. Coach has worked for large companies, been part of the leadership at startups, and held executive positions billion-dollar companies. Coach has been a consultant, investor, and founder. Along the way, Coach has managed & mentored hundreds of people to perform at their top.


The coach's identity is confidential, and it will be revealed once a student is qualified into the program.


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