Why Relying on Intuition Isn’t Enough for Identifying High-Potentials

Many organizations still rely on manager intuition or tenure to identify high-potential talent. The result? Promising candidates are overlooked due to bias, decisions are made inconsistently, and there are critical gaps in the leadership bench. The reason? High performers don’t always make great leaders, and future leaders don’t always stand out right away.

Leading organizations take a different approach. They use evidence-based leadership assessments like the Leadership Skills Profile – Revised® (LSP-R®) to identify high-potential employees early, often before they’re identified using traditional methods.

8 Steps for Leveraging Leadership Assessments to Find High-Potential Talent

The following eight-step process outlines how to use assessments to strengthen leadership pipelines and to turn strategy into execution.

Step 1: Define What High Potential Means

Every organization has a unique leadership culture. Start by establishing high-potential criteria that reflects the values, competencies, and capabilities required for future leadership roles in your organization.

How Leadership Assessments Help:

• Measure leadership potential using validated leadership competencies.
• Highlight the gap between current performance and future capability.

Practical Tip:

• Define high-potential selection criteria using leadership competencies and knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs).
• Prioritize critical roles and build targeted talent pools early.

Step 2: Communicate the Process Internally

Transparency and clarity are key to program success.

How Leadership Assessments Help:

• Create a shared language for discussing readiness and suitability with leaders and human resources (HR).

Practical Tip:

• Educate managers on the definition of “high potential” and the role of assessments.
• Clearly communicate timelines, expectations, and privacy considerations for nominated employees to build trust and engagement.

Step 3: Nominate an Initial Talent Pool

Use the defined talent criteria to identify a preliminary group of high-potential candidates through collaboration between HR and leadership.

How Leadership Assessments Help:

• Provide a common language and framework to guide nominations and reduce unconscious bias.

Practical Tip:

• Engage a diverse group of stakeholders in the nomination process to promote fairness and objectivity. In addition to HR, involve executive leaders, managers, department heads, and team leads.
• When uncertain, err on the side of inclusion. Nomination is not selection; it simply signals leadership potential. Final decisions can be made later, once more information is gathered in subsequent steps.

Step 4: Evaluate Leadership Potential Objectively

Assessment data replaces guesswork with science. Rather than relying on instinct, organizations can evaluate leadership potential at scale with scientific accuracy.

How Leadership Assessments Help:

• Provide structured insight into individual capabilities and future readiness.
• Reveal hidden leadership potential, challenge assumptions, and reduce manager bias.

Practical Tip:

• Use a validated leadership assessment like the Leadership Skills Profile – Revised® (LSP-R®) to inform nominations and ensure decisions are competency-based and data-driven.

Step 5: Analyze Leadership Assessment Data

Assessment results must be translated into insight to inform decisions.

How Leadership Assessments Help:

• Offer comprehensive profiles to evaluate candidates against high-potential criteria.
• Highlight strengths, competency gaps, and readiness levels using the LSP-R and other tools.

Process Tip:

• Summarize results in standardized talent profiles to visualize strengths and development needs.

Step 6: Facilitate Talent Review Discussions

Structured meetings align stakeholders with objective data and calibrated decisions.

How Leadership Assessments Help:

• Provide objective evidence to support or challenge subjective impressions.
• Reveal hidden talent and reduce bias during group decision-making.

Process Tip:

• Finalize high-potential selections through discussion; be sure to use a standardized selection process and templates, and document the rationale for decisions made.
• Outline next steps (see Step 6).
• Consider providing your leaders with coaching training to ensure that they are equipped to guide high-potential candidates through the leadership development process.

Step 7: Develop High Potentials with Personalized Plans

Identifying high-potential employees is only the beginning. Development drives leadership readiness.

How Leadership Assessments Help:

• Provide personalized development insights tailored to future leadership roles.
• Highlight competency gaps and strengths for targeted growth.

Process tip:

Build Individual Development Plans (IDPs) that include:

• Targeted leadership training
• Coaching and mentoring
• Cross-functional projects
• Stretch assignments

Step 8: Monitor Progress and Refresh the Pool

Leadership potential evolves over time. Effective high-potential programs adapt by reassessing and refining IDPs and program-wide processes.

How Leadership Assessments Help:

• Track progress with a 360-degree feedback assessment, such as SIGMARadius 360-Degree Feedback every 12–18 months.
• Visualize bench strength and leadership pipeline readiness across teams.

Process tip:

• Conduct regular reviews of development progress and reassess high-potential employees.
• Measure success through promotions, retention rates, and readiness scores.

Final Thoughts: Great Leaders Start as High-Potentials

Leadership potential doesn’t always shout, it often whispers. The key is to listen with the right tools. Leadership assessments provide the insight and confidence required to make high-stakes talent decisions with clarity and consistency.

Overlooking emerging leaders is a risk that organizations can’t afford.