Future-Star Talent Scorecard
Spot promotable talent through present excellence, breadth, attitude, and flexibility
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Time to result
- ~months to results
- Steps
- 5
- Confidence
- 98%
Grede's first test for a future star is excellence in the person's current work. She is reluctant to move someone toward a desired opportunity while they remain only partly effective where they are. Beyond performance, she looks for attitude, energy, enthusiasm, a figure-it-out mentality, and interest across the whole business. This resembles a T-shaped profile: deep capability in one area combined with curiosity about adjacent functions. For experienced senior hires she adds flexibility, because methods learned over decades may no longer fit changing technology and customer behaviour. The scorecard therefore combines current evidence, learning orientation, organisational breadth, and adaptability. It is not a licence for subjective vibe hiring; each dimension should be tied to observed behaviour and paired with the specific technical requirements of the role.
Origin
Extracted from The Diary of a CEO
Core principles
- 01Present performance precedes greater responsibility
- 02Attitude can matter more than an exact experience match
- 03Future leaders look beyond their current lane
- 04Experience must remain adaptable as markets change
- 05Observed behaviour is stronger evidence than aspiration alone
How to run it
- 1
Verify present excellence
Review whether the person consistently performs their current role at a high level. Use outcomes and behaviour rather than their stated desire for promotion.
Pro tip Ask what evidence shows they are ready for more scope now.
Watch out Do not reward overwork or visibility as a substitute for effective results.
- 2
Assess operating attitude
Look for initiative, constructive energy, and a willingness to figure out unfamiliar problems. Check examples rather than accepting labels.
Pro tip Ask for a recent situation where the person advanced work without a complete playbook.
Watch out Confidence and enthusiasm can conceal poor follow-through.
- 3
Test business breadth
Explore whether the person understands adjacent functions and how their own decisions affect the wider organisation. Look for genuine curiosity outside the current lane.
Pro tip Ask them to trace one decision through two other departments.
Watch out Breadth should complement, not replace, depth in the role.
- 4
Probe flexibility
Present a change in technology, customer behaviour, or process and ask how the candidate would adapt. Strong experience should supply options rather than rigidity.
Pro tip Ask when they last abandoned a previously successful method.
Watch out Experience becomes a liability when it is treated as the only valid route.
- 5
Expand responsibility deliberately
If the evidence is strong, give a bounded increase in scope and observe the response. Use that result to guide the larger promotion or hire.
Pro tip Define success before the expanded assignment begins.
Watch out Do not leave someone doing a bigger job indefinitely without recognition or compensation.
In the wild
Grede describes valuing a strong wholesale salesperson who also wants to understand ecommerce, stores, planning, and merchandising. The wider interest signals potential to operate beyond one division when combined with excellent current performance.
→ A capable specialist becomes a credible candidate for broader responsibility.
Common mistakes
Promoting aspiration alone
Wanting another opportunity does not compensate for weak execution in the current role.
Hiring experience without flexibility
A long record can become rigid doctrine when technology and customers have changed.
Using attitude as a vague vibe
Mentality and energy need behavioural evidence or they can amplify bias.
Is it for you?
Best for
Leaders making promotion, succession, or senior-hiring decisions in a changing business.
Not ideal for
It should not replace role-specific competence checks, fair assessment, references, or structured safeguards against bias.
From the transcript
“the sure way to put yourself in a position for more responsibility for a promotion is to be excellent at what you're doing”
“I have hire much more for attitude over experience”
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