Finder & Developer

A good leader, in my experience, isn’t just someone who gives direction or sets rules. A good leader is a great finder and a great developer of people.

Being a finder means having the eye to see potential before it’s obvious. It’s noticing the quiet person in the room who thinks deeply, the rough-around-the-edges worker who has natural instincts, or the kid who isn’t polished yet but has drive. Great leaders don’t just look for perfect résumés or finished products. They look for raw material—character, curiosity, grit, and work ethic. That ability to recognize who someone can become is rare, and it separates real leaders from managers who only hire what already exists.

But finding talent is only half the job. A good leader is also a developer. Development takes patience, time, and sometimes a willingness to take short-term losses for long-term gains. It means teaching, mentoring, correcting without crushing, and allowing people to make mistakes while keeping them safe from failure that would permanently harm them. Development requires consistency—showing up, reinforcing good behavior, and not abandoning people the moment things get difficult.

The best leaders I’ve known didn’t hoard talent or feel threatened by capable people. They built people up, even knowing some of them would eventually outgrow the organization or move on. That’s not a weakness—that’s leadership. When people grow under you, your influence multiplies long after they leave.

A leader who can find potential and develop it creates loyalty, confidence, and momentum. People don’t just work for leaders like that—they believe in them. And in the long run, belief always outperforms fear, control, or authority.