How strengths data can reshape leadership pipelines and unlock potential.
Leadership success is no longer just about tenure or past performance. It’s about understanding the natural strengths that energise an individual and the friction that can hold them back. While traditional development pathways often reward high performers with promotions, many People & Culture leaders know this approach can be flawed: high performers do not always make high-impact leaders.
What is often missing from the equation is a clear, objective understanding of an individual’s natural capabilities and the invisible friction that might be draining their energy and potential.
Why strengths matter more than titles
In a recent masterclass with nextgenify Academy, Mike Erlin, Co-Founder and CEO of AbilityMap, shared a common scenario that many HR leaders will recognise:
“You can see salespeople who are average performers, who are potentially even low performers, who are really well suited to sales management. But you don’t know that.”
This insight captures a systemic problem in leadership development. Organisations often promote people based on what they have done, not on what they are naturally wired to do.
Tools like the Ability Imprint bring scientific clarity to this process by objectively identifying an individual’s strengths across core capabilities, such as personal selling, building customer relationships, and handling authority. These insights help teams spot untapped leadership potential that may not be obvious on a CV or in a current role.
Friction: the invisible drain on capability
One of the most valuable concepts for leadership development is friction. Friction occurs when a person can perform a task, but doing so drains their energy because it doesn’t align with their natural strengths.
“Just because you have a high degree of friction in performing a skill, it certainly doesn’t mean you can’t perform it,” Mike explained. “But what it does mean is that you’re working bloody hard to get it done.”
For People & Culture leaders, this has major implications. Unidentified friction can lead to burnout, disengagement, or leaders leaving roles they were never truly suited for. Understanding where leaders thrive versus where they might be forcing performance is key to building a more resilient and effective leadership pipeline.
Fit and flow: creating conditions for success
When a leader’s natural strengths align with their role requirements, they enter a state of flow. They are energised, effective, and able to do the best work of their lives while bringing out the best in others. The Ability Imprint allows organisations to map this alignment with objective, data-driven insights.
Cherie Mylordis, leadership coach and founder of nextgenify, shared her own experience:
“I thought I wasn’t the ‘authority’ type… until I saw it in my Imprint and realised I do step up when needed. That insight changed how I saw myself.”
The Imprint doesn’t just confirm obvious traits; it often reveals “quiet strengths” that individuals may not have recognised, giving them the confidence to own and develop them.
Beyond personality: understanding adaptive capacity
Traditional psychometric tools often fall short because they rely heavily on human interpretation, which can introduce bias. The Ability Imprint uses advanced algorithms to assess patterns of capability, providing a more accurate and objective view of a person’s adaptive capacity, their innate ability to learn, pivot, and succeed in changing environments.
“What you’re beginning to understand is a person’s adaptive capacity. Or team adaptive capacity,” Mike noted. “And as we all know, the ability to adapt is really important right now.”
For P&C leaders navigating constant change, this data is gold. It provides the objective insights needed to build future-fit leadership teams, allowing for more informed decisions around who is ready to step up and what support they will need to thrive.
A smarter way to build your leadership bench
When you combine individual strengths data with clear role profiling, leadership development becomes less of a guessing game and more of a strategic advantage. Whether you are developing emerging leaders, planning for succession, or rebuilding engagement, the Ability Imprint provides the clarity needed to make confident, evidence-led decisions.
As Mike Erlin says, “Very rarely do you see people that are capable and highly capable across everything, and that’s okay.”
Effective leadership isn’t about being perfect. It’s about understanding your strengths, managing your friction, and building roles and teams that are set up for success.
Take the next step
- Watch the Masterclass: Discover how the Ability Imprint can unlock potential in your team by watching the full masterclass with NextGenify.
- Book a Conversation: If you’re ready to take a more evidence-led approach to leadership development, book a conversation with our team.
