Page 1 of Google

Over 75% of people don’t go past the first page of a Google search. But here’s the thing.

The results that come up on the first page are not necessarily the best matches for what you’re looking for. In fact, they may not be the best matches for anything.

Why?

Partly because of how SEO works and, largely because we don’t exactly know what we’re looking for until we find it. In fact, a friend remarked quite candidly that the first page always shows us what others want to show rather than what we want to see. Sure enough, some of the best things I have found have been accidental discoveries and rarely from the first page.

What’s true for a Google search is also true for talent in a company.

The results of our search for talent reflect more the quality of our questions and less about the reality of what is out there. Quite literally, what we are shown might be what we deserve at that point of time.

Unless of course, we are prepared to accept that when we settle for what’s convenient, we are also defining the limits of what is possible for us.

The names of the people on our speed dial are not necessarily the best solution for every problem to be solved. They are reliable for sure, but are they the answer for every question?

There is a huge amount of untapped talent in every organisation that’s just sitting there because no one believes they can do anything special.

Why?

It’s too cumbersome to find out, too risky to try.

It goes without saying, that there is a cost of all this untapped potential. It has a two-pronged impact.

The threat of average performance

First, the ‘bell’ of the bell-curve increasingly gets by with only the outliers making all the noises (good and bad). Every organisation has a huge chunk of people that are rated as ‘meeting expectations.’ The pandemic and its resulting isolation has pushed many of these to the edge of just getting by. A Gallup survey showed that 74% of employees have experienced burnout on the job at some point. As per WHO’s classification of burnout as an ‘occupational phenomenon’, it is characterized by three dimensions:

• Feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion

• Increased mental distance from one’s job, or feelings of negativism or cynicism related to one's job

• Reduced professional efficacy

So what?

Continued distance and disengagement from the job causes an erosion of potential. While it may not show up in performance (they do what is enough to keep their heads above the water), the clarity of who they can be starts to diminish. Besides slowly eroding their potential, they run the risk of becoming unemployable in some time.

The people that answer the call all the time slowly forget how to set boundaries. How to say no to another project that no one else can supposedly handle. In saying yes to everything, they say no to themselves. This becomes the starting point of their burnout - not always visible until it becomes too late.

What can leaders do?

The best leaders I have worked with were always curious about every individual in the team, especially the ones who don’t stand out. The ones who don’t have great things to say in meetings, the ones who are just getting by.

They knew how to evoke something special in those people. They realise that average performance is a reflection of the conditions people are subject to and the questions that are asked of them. The leaders who create the best environment for their team members by removing the major obstacles and providing the required support can trigger the expression of latent potential.

How do they do this?

• Staying curious and asking the basic questions

• Listening to what no one is paying attention to

And once, the trigger was activated, the potential turned into unstoppable performance. I know this because I’ve been one of those people who was invited to solve problems that were a headache for everyone else. While it’s not up to me to say if it worked, I can definitely say I was transformed as a result of that invitation. The limits of what was possible for me expanded permanently from being asked a simple question - ‘Do you want to do this?’

So, do you settle for what shows up on the first page? Or do you go further?