Power Play: Give every employee a chance to blossom

Some of the greatest talents started off pretty wobbly, and many of the finest Power Players can remember one person who gave them a chance to really blossom when the rest of the jury was out.

Power Players give every single one of their employees a chance to truly blossom.

A Power Player I admire greatly once gave me the best advice on this: ‘Most people, when given the space to show their talent, step up and rarely disappoint.’

Give everyone a shot at being better – everyone.

The greatest Power Players will tell you that when they gave their unlikeliest candidates the chance to blossom, they were very happy with the results.

The story

When I started in my first strategy job, I had absolutely no idea what I was doing. I felt that too much had happened too soon (mail room to TV production to strategist, all in four months).

Thankfully, I had a wonderful boss who taught me how to do everything, but also let me have those days where I was totally freaked without making me feel like I was a loser.

She threw me in the deep end of the pool but she was always only an arm’s distance away from pulling me out if I got myself into trouble.

She knew that the best way for me to learn would be to give me a chance at the real work, no coffee-making or photocopying.

She let me grow into a person with real skills and real talents. It’s a terrific way to allow someone to blossom.