It starts with a risk. Most of the time, in the high-stakes world of corporate hiring or startup scaling, we talk about "mitigating risk." We look for the candidate who has done the job three times before. We want the person with the "proven track record." But honestly, some of the most transformative moments in business history didn't come from a safe bet. They came because someone looked at a diamond in the rough and said, "I’ll take a flyer on you." When an employee later says you gave me a chance, they aren't just expressing gratitude. They are describing the foundation of a psychological contract that creates more loyalty and higher output than any signing bonus ever could.
Risk is scary. Managers hate being wrong because being wrong looks bad on a quarterly review. But if you only hire for experience, you are buying the past. When you hire for potential—when you give that chance—you are investing in a future that your competitors are likely overlooking.
The Science Behind "The Chance"
There is a real psychological mechanism at play here. It’s called the Pygmalion Effect. Essentially, it’s a phenomenon where higher expectations lead to an increase in performance. When a leader says, "I know you haven't done this specific role before, but I see the traits in you to master it," they aren't just being nice. They are setting a psychological floor for that person.
Research by Robert Rosenthal and Lenore Jacobson famously showed that when teachers were told certain students were "growth spurters," those students actually performed better, even if they were chosen at random. In a business context, saying you gave me a chance is the employee’s recognition of that belief. It creates a debt of loyalty. This isn't just fluffy HR talk; it’s about retention. LinkedIn’s 2023 Workforce Learning Report highlighted that companies that provide internal mobility and "chances" for non-traditional growth see much higher retention rates. People stay where they are seen.
Why Experience is Often a Liar
We overvalue experience. Way too much.
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Experience often brings baggage. It brings the "this is how we've always done it" mentality. Sometimes, the person who has done the job for ten years is just really good at repeating the same mistakes. On the other hand, the "unproven" candidate—the one who needs you to give them a chance—is hungry. They have a beginner's mind. They are forced to innovate because they don't have a playbook to fall back on.
Think about the early days of Apple or Google. They weren't hiring veteran executives from IBM to lead their most creative pods. They were hiring kids who were obsessed. Those kids became the titans of the industry because someone saw raw talent and ignored the thin resume. If you aren't willing to let a team member say you gave me a chance, you are likely trapped in a cycle of hiring expensive, mediocre talent that leaves as soon as a better offer comes along.
The Anatomy of a High-Potential Bet
So, how do you actually spot someone worth the risk? It isn't random. You don't just close your eyes and point at a stack of resumes. You look for three specific things:
- Metacognition: Do they understand how they learn? If they can explain how they mastered a previous, unrelated skill, they can master this one.
- Resilience: Have they failed at something and come back? People who have never struggled are dangerous to give a chance to because they don't know how to handle the inevitable "dip."
- Low Ego: The best "chance" candidates are those who admit what they don't know. They are sponges.
The ROI of Gratitude in Leadership
When someone feels like they owe their career break to you, the "discretionary effort" they put in is off the charts. Discretionary effort is the difference between doing what is in the job description and doing what the company actually needs to win.
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I’ve seen this in tech startups over and over. A junior dev is moved to a product lead role because the founder saw a specific kind of spark. That dev works 20% harder, thinks 20% deeper, and stays 2 years longer than the "expert" hire. Why? Because the expert hire thinks they are doing you a favor by being there. The "chance" hire feels the opposite. They want to prove you right. They want to make sure your reputation stays intact for betting on them.
When "Giving a Chance" Goes Wrong
Let’s be real: it doesn't always work. Sometimes you give someone a chance and they flop. Hard.
The mistake most managers make is not the "giving the chance" part—it's the "abandonment" part. You can't just throw someone into the deep end and walk away. That isn't giving them a chance; that's setting them up for a public execution. To make you gave me a chance a success story, you need a scaffolding of support.
- Set clear, short-term milestones.
- Provide a mentor who isn't their boss.
- Create a "fail-safe" environment where they can ask "stupid" questions for the first 90 days.
If they fail despite that, you at least know it was a talent gap, not a management gap. And honestly? Even a failed chance is better for company culture than a "safe" hire who poisons the well with apathy. It shows the rest of the team that growth is actually possible, not just a line in the employee handbook.
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Practical Steps for Leaders Today
If you want to build a culture where people feel that sense of "you gave me a chance," you have to change how you look at your pipeline. Start by looking at your "B" players. Not everyone can be an "A" player in their current role, but many "B" players are just "A" players in the wrong seat.
- Audit your internal talent. Who has a skill that isn't being used? Give them a project that uses it.
- Rewrite your job descriptions. Stop requiring 5 years of experience for entry-level tasks. Focus on outcomes, not years served.
- Listen for the "Why." In interviews, ask: "What is something you’ve wanted to do but haven't been allowed to try?" Their answer will tell you exactly where they are hungry to prove themselves.
The most successful companies aren't the ones with the biggest budgets. They are the ones that recognize human potential before the rest of the market does. By the time someone is a "proven success," they are too expensive and too set in their ways. Find the ones who are waiting for someone to believe in them. When they finally look at you and say you gave me a chance, you’ll know you’ve built something that will last longer than a fiscal year.
Actionable Takeaways
To move from a culture of "safe bets" to a culture of high-growth potential, implement these shifts immediately:
- Identify One "Reach" Project: Assign a high-visibility task to a junior team member who has shown consistent curiosity, even if they lack the tenure.
- Formalize a "Shadowing" Program: Allow employees to spend four hours a month in a department they know nothing about to identify hidden cross-functional talents.
- Normalize "The Pivot": Publicly celebrate stories within your company where someone switched career paths internally. This lowers the perceived risk for others to try.
- Focus on Transferable Logic: When interviewing, value the logic used to solve a problem over the knowledge of a specific software or tool. Tools can be taught in a week; logic takes a lifetime to build.
Building a team based on potential requires more work from leadership, but the payoff is a loyal, innovative, and resilient workforce that can't be bought by the highest bidder. It’s about the human element in an increasingly automated world.