Potential

I would like to make a couple of observations about potential. Potential is a great thing to be perceived to have. People assess another person and conclude this individual has the kind of talent, skills or ability that will help them rise to high levels in whatever walk of life they pursue. If by chance that individual actually does advance, then the person who noticed their potential often congratulations themselves by telling others they recognized this person's potential. There is nothing wrong with this scenario, of course. In fact, my guess is it happens in some capacity on a regular basis in many organizations.

To those who spot potential in another, one question I ask this: What do you do about it when you judge another to have potential? Do you make an effort to try and create opportunities so this person can fulfill their potential? Or do you simply make your observation and then do nothing? Does potential go to waste if there is no opportunity to go with it? By recognizing talent in another, does the person who does the recognizing suddenly have a responsibility to do something about it in the same way a person who recognizes a safety hazard have a responsibility to do something about that? My guess is people would say "no" to the first question and "yes" to the second.

If my assumption is accurate, then I wonder why this is the case? Is there something about helping others become the best they can be not something that we view as being all that important or as important as, say, helping ourselves? Perhaps I am becoming increasingly cynical, but I am inclined to believe that people do not equate helping others with anything close in importance to helping themselves. This may not be a bad thing, but it is unfortunate. One other related point: when does one stop being viewed as having potential? Does being perceived as having potential only belong to the young?