Four Levels Of Potential

The Story Here are the Four Levels of Potential - why they became so important to me is that they really made me think differently about myself and what I was doing. I first heard about them through the executive coach I had at the time, this was about 8 months before I left ABN AMRO. The reason they became so important to me - was something that happened on the way home from my sons football training one Saturday morning. We were in the car travelling home and chatting about things when I decided to explain the Four Levels of Potential to him, he was 12 at the time, he is a bright kid and I wondered what his take on them would be. I went through the 4 levels with him and he understood them straight away, he then asked me where I thought he was on his journey with the levels - I told him that he was already doing levels 1 and 2 very well and even thought he was doing well with level 3 (profound - contributing to his industry). He looked at me strangely and said "but I don't work in an industry" - I explained that for him, school was his industry and how he behaved at school could make a difference. I gave him an example - if he saw that one of his teachers was having a bad time with a class he was in, he should try to make a positive comment about the lesson, as some of the other kids look up to him they would back off a bit and the teacher would feel better about herself or himself. This would in turn raise the quality of the lesson for all of the kids and the teacher and therefore make a positive contribution to him in the long run. Again he got it. It was at that point that that I stopped and looked him in the eye's - my eye's began to fill up and then he said to me "you have just found out what your Pure Level of potential is, haven't you!" - he was right. Here they are, it's nothing complicated: Four Levels of Potential Everyone has four levels of "Potential", the issue is that we very rarely understand the importance or appreciate the significance of being aware of this potential in our daily lives. Each of us can make a difference in our world by the way we treat those around us and ourselves. The four levels of potential are: Personal - what you do for yourself, to be positive and develop yourself and give yourself the best chance possible to succeed. Going to the gym, reading a book or just giving yourself a little personal time. Greater - to help develop and encourage your family and friends potential, giving them confidence and support. Helping others to get on in life and to find their potential for new learning and ideas.

Most people look to achieve these first two levels of potential, and by achieving these can feel good about their purpose in life. There is nothing stopping anyone from achieving all four levels of potential, it really comes down to each of us to be aware of the fact that if we really think about it, we can achieve great things. Profound - this level is the ability make a positive impact within your industry, company or proactively encourage and support those people that we work with. This may be in the smallest way, by a simple note of encouragement and even a simple meaningful “thank you” to a member of your team or, to providing innovative concepts to move your industry on. Pure - potential is a level of potential to strive for, this is a contribution of global significance or positive impact that helps many people, an idea or solution to a world problem. An example of this was “Band Aid” from an initial idea between two people a movement of change that eventually snowballed into an event that millions where involved in for the greater good of others. I have continued to review my levels of potential over the past two years and found that while I was doing really well with my Profound level of potential I was not that good at the Personal or Greater levels. Leaving the Corporate world has allowed me to balance my time between spending time with my family, working and doing things that I like doing. It’s still not perfect but I am getting there, it’s a balancing act! Where are you with your levels of potential?