By: Teasha Cable, CEO & Co-Cofounder, CModel Data, Inc.
Karl Kleinert, President & COO of LeapFrog Services dropped some leadership “nuggets” on me the other day during our Dynamic Decisions Podcast conversation:
We're all sitting on goldmines of untapped leadership potential, and most of us don't even know it.
Picture this: You're in your next leadership meeting, looking around the table at your usual suspects. Now imagine asking each team leader to identify one person under their management who has untapped leadership potential—someone ready for more decision-making authority but hasn't been given the chance.
That simple exercise could reveal something powerful: your future leaders aren't in that room. They're out there—on your sales floor, in your customer service department, managing projects, solving problems—just waiting for someone to hand them the keys to real decision-making.
We've gotten really good at talking about empowerment. We throw around phrases like "we empower our people" in leadership meetings, employee gatherings, and on websites. But Karl made a statement that made me nod by head (and snap my fingers):
"Our goal is that we want people to be empowered, not just feel empowered, to make those decisions."
There's the difference between putting someone in the driver's seat versus just letting them think they're driving while you control the pedals from the passenger seat.
Karl shared something that should fundamentally change how you think about empowerment. At LeapFrog, they've discovered a direct correlation between employee engagement and customer satisfaction
"When we measure against customer satisfaction... we see a real high correspondence between high customer satisfaction when we have high employee engagement."
Think about that for a moment. When your people feel empowered to make decisions, solve problems, and take ownership, your customers feel it directly. It's not just about employee happiness—it's about business results.
Karl shared a story that illustrates what I'm talking about. They had someone from their help desk—their help desk—volunteer to fly to Dallas and do field services work for a week.
Was it a massive career leap? No. But here's what happened:
"It was a stretch assignment, someone that was looking to grow their career and develop some additional skills... it's a good example of how you can do that in the real world and still meet the needs of the company, the employee, and the client at the same time."
That help desk person just got a taste of leadership decision-making. They solved problems in real-time, worked with a larger team, and proved they could handle more responsibility. Today they're making field service decisions; tomorrow they might be running the whole operation.
I found Karl's approach to leadership development really compelling. He shared his guiding philosophy—a Latin phrase that perfectly captures the balance every leader needs: "festina lente"—make haste slowly.
"As leaders, it’s our role to set the pace. So you've got to make haste, but you have to do it in a way that is measured, that is calculated, that is thoughtful."
This is exactly what empowering employees requires. You need to move quickly to give people opportunities, but you also need to be thoughtful about how you support them through the process.
He also said something that every leader needs to understand:
"Leadership development needs a lot of nurturing... it's something that needs to be fed constantly."
You can't just announce "we're empowering people" and walk away. This isn't a policy you implement; it's a culture you cultivate.
Every. Single. Day.
When was the last time you deliberately created a stretch opportunity for someone? When did you last let someone make a decision that made you a little nervous? If you can't answer that quickly, you're not building your bench—you're just maintaining the status quo.
Ok, here’s the “bad news.” Most leaders stumble when things go wrong... We get excited about empowerment until someone makes a mistake. Then we swoop in, take control, and wonder why people stop taking initiative.
"It can be really hard when there is a failure to boost and raise the level back where the person feels comfortable taking the risk again."
This is where leadership development either happens or dies. Your response to failure literally determines whether you're building future leaders or creating future followers.
When you actually empower people (not just talk about it), measurable things start happening:
Take a moment to consider these (honestly):
Your answers to these questions will tell you everything you need to know about the depth of your leadership bench.
Here's what I realized from our conversation: Building your leadership bench isn't just about succession planning or employee development. It's about creating an organization that can move fast, pivot quickly, and seize opportunities while your competitors are still forming committees.
The future belongs to organizations that can distribute their institutional intelligence and decision-making throughout their ranks.
"Your job as a leader isn't to make all the decisions—it's to build an organization full of people who can make great decisions."
So here's my challenge to you: This week, find one decision you normally make and give it to someone else. Watch what happens. You might be surprised by what they bring to the table. Tomorrow's leaders are sitting in today's meetings, answering today's phones, and solving today's problems. The only question is whether you're ready to let them lead.
What decision will you hand off this week? Your future organization depends on it.
🎧 Listen to my 30 minute conversation with Karl: https://dub.sh/KarlKleinert
