Investing in the Leaders Who Come Next, The Power of Potential

Today is Giving Tuesday and it always makes me think about the places where I’ve seen real leadership growth happen. For me, that’s HOBY Youth Leadership, an organization I’ve volunteered with for more than 12 years. 

Every year, I get the privilege of coaching high school students who show up with wildly different levels of confidence, skill, perspective, and leadership experience. Some arrive ready to jump in. Others walk in on day one with almost no sense of their own strengths or voice.

And yet, with the right support, clarity, and encouragement, all of them make meaningful progress in just a few days. Not because they suddenly gain new abilities, but because someone invests in them long enough for their potential to surface.

The longer I’ve led and coached, the more I’ve realized how similar this is to what managers inside organizations face. Every year, brilliant people are promoted into leadership roles before they’re actually ready for leadership. They’re capable, motivated, and talented, but they haven’t been given the tools. They’re starting from square one in ways their leaders don’t always see.

What I’ve learned at HOBY applies directly to those environments too. People rise when someone believes they can, gives them language for their strengths and their way of operating, and holds space for them to practice real leadership before it “counts.” Growth doesn’t come from pressure. It comes from investment.

And that’s what Giving Tuesday is about, investing in something that creates long-term impact. Investing in people. Investing in potential. Investing in communities and organizations that make development accessible long before someone earns a title.

If you have the means today, I’d encourage you to support a nonprofit that’s meaningful to you. Whether that’s HOBY or any organization doing work that shapes people’s futures. And even if you’re not giving financially, remember that nonprofits need support in many forms: time, mentorship, advocacy, skills, and attention.

None of us became who we are without someone investing in us at the right time. Giving Tuesday is a reminder that we can pay that forward.