As friends, colleagues, leaders, and even as plain human beings, it is our responsibility to find the best in others by believing as well as saying “I see potential in you”. As human beings, no matter what our designation is, what we say goes a long way. We might think words are just words, but words have a deep-rooted effect on others. So, when we say that we see potential in someone, they feel motivated, positive, inspired, and hopeful about their future as well as their present life. But again, as human beings, it is in our nature to observe both the potential and flaws but we tend to talk about the flaws, especially when it comes to ourselves. We are our own worst critics. This usually happens because we forget how powerful words can be.
The fact of the matter is, when we see the best in others, when we see potential in others and we see the positives in others, we are actually contributing in making a great difference in their lives, and in our own lives. Because our ability to find the best in others can empower them to make great changes in their lives. Changes that they might have lacked the courage to perform, without you. Now, if you want to be a great leader, a good friend or even just a good human being, you have to watch your words and focus on the positives of a person.
Here are a few ways we can help people identity and unlock their true potential:
Show Faith In Them
This has to be one of the most important points when it comes to making people see beyond their limitations and unlock their potential. Put it on yourself; we doubt ourselves almost all the time. We think to ourselves “I can’t do this”, “I’m not good enough”, “I will fail at this so I will not even try”. These are some very common thoughts that cross our minds every time we try to go a little out of our comfort zone. Though your thoughts are not who you are, they oftentimes paralyze us. At this point, what do we need? We need someone to tell us that we can do this. We need someone to tell us how they see potential in us to complete this challenge. We need someone to tell us that we got this.
How can you implement this in your life with others? If your friend or colleague feels bummed about a new job interview or a seminar where they have to speak to a group of people, instead of pointing their lack of skills or the negatives, the slim chances they have for succeeding or their inferiority, show faith in them. Tell them “I see potential in you”. If you have experience in that task, give them a tip or two, but always speak in an encouraging manner.
Encourage Them To Have A Go-Getter Attitude
Believe us when we say, encouragement goes a long way. Similarly, words of discouragement go a long way in shaking and completely shattering someone’s sense of self as well as his or her confidence. Words can change our world. A few magical saying can spark our belief in the magic of life, and give us so much power.
If you see a friend who is scared of going out of his or her comfort zone, say a few words of encouragement. The more specific you are the better will be the impact. If he or she is scared to do something, remind him or her of the time when they got something similar done. Remind them how nervous they felt at first but then once they gathered the courage to do it, they were the happiest! “You got this”, “If you could do it before, you can do this time too”. By saying such words, you will have a great impact on boosting their confidence, and your own confidence as we will later see.
Raise The Bar Of Expectations
The more you expect, the more the other person will try to meet your expectations. Now, this does not in anyway mean to have expectations that are unrealistic and impossible for the other person to achieve. Such unrealistic expectations will only make them lose more of their confidence.
However, always expect more than you did before. Let us explain it better with an example. Salespeople are given very high targets to achieve by the end of the month, some might say the target and the expectation of their boss is ridiculously high, but history has shown how by raising up the expectations bar, sales people have actually achieved targets which otherwise seemed impossible to achieve. Similarly, always challenge the person to achieve new highs every time. This will only encourage them to accept the challenge and unlock new levels of potential within themselves.
Be Compassionate When The Truth Is Hard To Tell
Not everyone is perfect at everything they do, and we know that. Sometimes, we need to tell people the truth, which we know is not an easy task, especially when the truth is hard to tell and harder to accept. So, what is the solution? Be compassionate. When you know the truth, tell that to the person because you care. People usually avoid telling the truth because they want to be nice to the other person and not hurt his or her sentiments. But remember, if you are brave enough to tell someone the truth, it only means one thing; you care about them and you want them to improve, because you see the potential in them and know that they are strong enough to improve.
Now this might be tricky, so always be soft and compassionate about telling the truth. Not everyone has the power to speak the truth, and you might be the only person who can guide your friend or colleague towards improvement. The key is to always tell the truth in a way that it does not hurt their sentiments, nor shakes their confidence, yet is still clear and concise. Do not be combative, do not be critical. Always tell the truth in a way that shows that they have the capability and the capacity to improve, they have the potential to be better.
Be Influential, Through Your Actions
Believe it or not, we are can all be someone’s inspiration. There is someone out there who wants to be like us. Someone that sees our qualities, character, and talents, and looks up to us. There is someone out there who takes us as their role model.
Be inspirational through your actions. Whether it is a friend that looks up to you, your sibling or your colleague, always teach through your actions and not through words. Because at the end of the day, our actions are what counts. When you try to achieve the best of yourself, when you try to unlock the potentials within yourself by reaching for the impossible, by going out of your comfort zone, you somehow encourage those who look up to you to do the same. You are igniting a massive life-changing momentum within them, and you. You can speak as much as you want, but if your words do not match your actions then there is no point, as they will have no effect on the other person.
Being a role model also means to show the person who is looking up to you how reaching this position, the position you are at, was not easy. Being a role model means to share your failures too, and how you learned and let go of them. When we do not share our failures and hold back, we make the other person think that maybe failures are wrong. When in real, every person faces failures and mistakes in his or her life and the best of them, improve from their mistakes and learn from their experiences.
So, being a role model, you need to share your failures with those who look up to you. So that they know that it is OKAY to fail. It is OKAY to make mistakes. It is OKAY to be disappointed as long as you know you will stand tall the next day and achieve what you aimed for.
Acknowledge Their Efforts
The worst thing we can do as leaders, as role models, and as friends is to constantly disregard their efforts. When a person is making efforts, acknowledge them. Let them know that you see how hard they are trying. When we continuously point out the negatives in someone, there comes a point where they stop trying at all.
When we start observing the good in others, even a little effort that they did, acknowledge it and tell them. You will see great improvements in that person and they will start getting more and more good things done. Now, how can you acknowledge them? It is simple. Talk to them, tell them how great they are doing. Praise them infront of others, write them a card etc. These little acts of acknowledgement go a long way in improving the person’s performance and ultimately boosting their confidence. When they think they are improving, they start to become the better versions of themselves and take up on new challenges; hence, unlocking the potential they did not know they had.
Always remember, no one is better than the other and no person is ordinary. It is only a matter of time till they start appreciating their talents and skills and showcase them to the world. And when you do that, you are contributing not only to them but to you as well. By helping them to shine, your own world becomes more bright. By enabling them to manifest, you are adding another color to your own world.
Let us help those who are too hard on themselves, let us help those who think they are of no good. Let us help everyone around us to be better versions of themselves by believing and saying “I see potential in you”
