Part two of our Potential Quotient (PQ) series begins with a story…
What if you were an athletic coach sitting in your office just before the school year started. A single-mom called you and said her son would like to play football on your high school team but that he had never had the opportunity to play in an organized league. The financial and time constraints of being a single mom simply didn’t allow for it. You would probably tell her, “Sure, bring him out for opening day of practice and we’ll see what he can do,” knowing the kid probably wasn’t going to make the team.
Opening day of practice arrives and you have all but forgotten the conversation. An older model car arrives and out of the passenger side steps a student. The student doesn’t have on the newest athletic gear or look the part. He says, “Sir, my mom called you and you told her I should come to opening day practice.” “Yeah, I remember. Welcome. Get in line over there and just try to learn what those guys are doing.” As practice wears on, you definitely see there is a steep learning curve this young man faces. He doesn’t know the plays practiced during the Spring practice regiment. At the end of practice, it’s time to do some assessments.
First up, the 40-yard dash. Your tried and true starting receivers, the light and speedy guys, clock theirs off at 4.46 seconds, very decent for a high school wide out. Then the new guy comes to line. He has to ask about when to start. Does the clock start on the beep or when he first moves? He gets his answer and gets into a non-traditional stance. He then launches into a 4.35 second 40-yard dash. “Holy smokes! Something must be wrong with the timing”, you think. “Let’s have him run that again.” He does, this time clocking off a 4.39. “Get that kid over to the vertical test,” you tell an assistant coach. Soon the assistant comes back to you and reports, “Off the charts high, Coach.”
You begin to salivate; you’ve found a diamond in the rough that could be a real difference maker for your team with some development.
You have just discovered the Potential Quotient or PQ!
Every person in the world loves to discover untapped potential (unless you are narcissistic and feel easily threatened). The thought of finding a source of untapped potential is what drives the best leaders.
Buy Low and Hold Onto It
A wise, old adage in the stock market is to buy low and hold, only selling at top price. The same wise investment can be made in humans. If you can find a diamond in the rough, the person with vast potential who merely needs coaching and development, that is the lowest price and least risky buy you can make. Not much is expected of them. Their salary expectations won’t be commensurate with a 10-year veteran. The risk of failure is at its lowest, but the potential to find an all-star is at its highest.
Your goal as a leader should be to find the people who hold the most potential and develop them towards greatness. Let your experience and insights as a professor, boss, or consultant benefit the growth of their PQ. Pour into them and watch them begin to flourish as their potential turns into true influence and ability.
But how do you do this in the real world? Life potential isn’t as measurable as it is on the athletic field, is it?
Gain a Benchmark of Potential
The best coaches have devised testing mechanisms they know translate into high performance on the athletic field in game situations. When Gil Brandt of the Dallas Cowboys developed the 40-yard dash test, every pro scout quickly realized how well the results translated to future on-the-field performance. It became a sports standardized measurement of potential.
What if there was a mechanism to measure human potential in a non-athletic setting? What is the 40-yard dash test of the professional/vocational/academic world? Enter the Keller Influence Indicator® (KII®). The KII® is becoming the equivalent to the business world just as the 40-yard dash is in the sports world . The KII® provides a dynamic benchmark of human potential through measuring seven unique traits that are scientifically validated and research backed for accuracy and precision.
KII® results provide an overall K-Factor® score that provides a clear measure of an individual’s influence potential. Individual scores are also provided for each of the Seven Influence Traits® necessary to develop one’s potential.
Armed with this information, consultants, bosses, advisors and hiring managers can develop a clear picture of their candidate’s or team member’s potential to become a future leader and influencer. Then, the important work can be done to invest in the development of those with the highest potential.
The benchmarks provided by the KII® are dynamic. Just as athletes can get faster or slower over time, so our human Potential Quotient can change. Through ongoing testing, growth in each of the Seven Influence Traits® can be clearly measured. Development plans can be created and adapted, using the development tools that correlate with the KII® as part of the process.
Discover Your PQ Benchmark
The KII® is quickly becoming the industry standardized measurement of one’s potential quotient. Piloted in partnership with Clemson University, the KII® is the first-of-its-kind dynamic measure of the potential influence an individual possesses. Take a FREE TRIAL of the KII® and discover the value this assessment brings to every hiring manager, life coach, and employer as a tool for measuring AND developing leaders. The FREE TRIAL provides insight into one of the seven traits assessed in the full version of the KII®. Take your free trial today.
