Too many people are asked to prove they can lead only after they receive the title. I think we should reverse that.
Give people the microphone before you give them the title.
Leadership development becomes real when responsibility does. A promotion should recognize growth that has already been practiced—not become the first permission someone receives to make a decision, own a problem, brief a team, present an idea, coach a new hire, or step forward when the moment needs a leader.
Trust → Practice → Growth
Potential is difficult to see when people are never given a meaningful chance to use it. Leaders can tell someone they believe in them all day, but confidence becomes much more durable when the person has evidence: I led that conversation. I solved that problem. I made that call. I recovered when it did not go perfectly.
That is the progression I keep coming back to: trust creates the opportunity to practice, and practice creates growth.
Give them something real to own
A stretch opportunity does not have to mean handing someone an enormous project and disappearing. It can be small, visible, and meaningful:
- Lead part of the pre-shift huddle.
- Own a guest-recovery conversation.
- Present the team’s recommendation.
- Train a new employee on a process they have mastered.
- Run a project check-in.
- Represent the team in a partner or stakeholder conversation.
- Take the microphone and explain the work.
The important part is that the responsibility is real. People know the difference between a development exercise and a task that actually matters.
Stretch is not the same as sink or swim
Empowerment is not “good luck—figure it out.” Strong development gives someone an outcome, the context they need, clarity about what they own, boundaries around the decision, and a leader close enough to coach without quietly taking the work back.
That last part can be uncomfortable. When a developing leader takes a different route than we would, the temptation is to step in. Sometimes safety, ethics, or the Guest experience requires intervention. But often the better move is to let the person work the problem, ask a useful question, and save the coaching for the debrief.
Debrief turns responsibility into development
After the moment, talk about it. What worked? What felt harder than expected? What information would have helped? What would they repeat? What would they change next time?
That conversation is where experience becomes learning. It gives the person language for what they just practiced and helps the leader decide what the next stretch opportunity should look like.
A title should recognize leadership—not unlock it
Formal titles matter. They communicate accountability, scope, authority, and responsibility. But they should not be the first moment someone is allowed to practice leadership.
When people have been trusted with meaningful ownership before the promotion, the title becomes recognition of demonstrated growth. They arrive with experiences to draw from instead of a new badge and a sudden expectation to know how to lead.
Give them the microphone. Stay close enough to support them. Let them collect evidence that they are capable of more.
Reflection: What responsibility helped you realize you were capable of more than you thought?