5 Triggers That Reveal Which of Your Leaders Can Scale (And Which Will Stall)

Most HiPo identification relies on the wrong signals. Resume quality tells you where someone has been, not whether they will scale from here. Performance reviews tell you how they did the job they have — not how they will handle the job they do not have yet. The signal that actually predicts scaling is behavioral, and it shows up in how a leader responds to five specific triggers. Read those triggers correctly and you spot your real HiPos before HR’s talent-review spreadsheet does. Miss them and you invest in the wrong people for twelve months before the data tells you.

The triggers are not stress tests or hypothetical scenarios. They are real situations that happen at every leadership tier: ambiguous priority, cross-functional conflict, visible public failure, resource scarcity, and moral trade-off. What a leader does in the first 48 hours of each one reveals more about scaling potential than any performance review will. The best leaders respond to all five with the same quality of thinking, regardless of pressure. The stallers respond to two or three well and break on the other two.

Below are the five triggers, what each one measures, what to watch for in the response, and how Learn2’s Save the Titanic and Lead the Endurance experiences create the conditions where you can safely observe all five in a single engagement. This is the F16 TP1 pain post that pairs with How to Identify Your Real HiPos Before You Spend a Dollar on Development (F16 TP3 evaluator).

As leaders, our leadership triggers activate us to take action. The activities, approaches and results you recognize and celebrate speak volumes to your team. You take action. Your action affects what others see you do. What you do indicates what is important to you. What you recognize and celebrate in others illustrates what is important to you. The activities, approaches and results you recognize and celebrate speak volumes to your team.

WHAT IS A LEADERSHIP TRIGGER?

Most of us get that a trigger is the mechanism that actuates the firing sequence of a firearm. As leaders, our triggers are mechanisms that activate us to take action.

TYPES OF LEADERSHIP TRIGGERS

NEGATIVE TRIGGERS 

Many leaders have well-defined “negative” triggers. When negatively triggered, we get activated when an undesired outcome occurs, like if someone is late, fails to complete a task, and other scenarios.

HELPFUL TRIGGERS 

“Helpful” triggers activate us to recognize and celebrate the effort, progress or results of our team. Helpful triggers recognize those who take the desired action or produce the desired result, rather than focusing on those who did not. When developing leaders, it’s important to identify these triggers so they can be recognized and celebrated.

FOCUS ON POSITIVE LEADERSHIP TRIGGERS

Rather than investing more energy and effort into those who are not producing the desired results or following the right timelines, consider focusing on those who do. If the budgeting process submissions are always late, then praise and recognize those who submit early or on-time.

CHOOSE YOUR TRIGGERS WISELY

Recognition calls focus and attention to either the desired action or the less desirable inaction. Which do you want to focus upon? Those who take the desired action or those who fail to take action? Your recognition and celebration of those who take action creates a culture that focuses on those who create the results.

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GREAT LEADERSHIP TRIGGERS FOR RECOGNITION

GREAT LEADERSHIP TRIGGERS FOR CELEBRATION

CHOOSE TRIGGERS THAT ALIGN WITH YOUR TEAM CULTURE

Align what triggers you with the culture and results you desire. If you want action toward a strategic plan or specific goals – recognize and celebrate that action. More of that action will follow. Some effective leaders choose a trigger for each day of the week for the first 21 days. Leaders build recognition and celebration into their daily practice, always reinforcing the action, effort, and results they desire. To learn more about how to build your team through great leadership, contact the leadership development experts at Learn2.