Famous Last Words: “They Can Grow Into the Role”

You’ve just boarded a plane, settled into your seat, and the captain’s voice comes over the intercom: ‘I’ve got a bit of a headache today, so I’m going to let our top flight attendant handle the controls for the first part of the flight.’

How confident would you feel about the journey ahead?
My guess is somewhere between sheer panic and questioning your life choices.

While this scenario sounds absurd, the same risk exists in business when leaders say, ‘They can grow into the role,’ without ensuring the person has the knowledge, preparation, and validation needed to succeed.

Would you trust someone with unproven abilities to fly your plane—or guide your business mission?”

The Risk of Hope as a Strategy

Every leader has been there. You’re hiring for a critical role, and while the candidate doesn’t quite check all the boxes, you convince yourself, “They’ll grow into the role.” It’s an optimistic thought, even a compassionate one. After all, shouldn’t leaders develop people and give them opportunities to rise to the occasion? Yes, but only when it’s done with the right preparation, validation, and support. Because the truth is, hiring someone who isn’t ready can jeopardize your mission—and your business.

As a former C-5 Galaxy pilot, I know firsthand the dangers of putting someone into a role they’re not prepared to handle. Before a co-pilot ever sets foot in the cockpit, they’ve demonstrated their abilities, knowledge, and sound decision-making through rigorous learning, testing, simulator training, and validation. Why? Because when you’re flying a multi-million-dollar aircraft with lives at stake, there’s no room for guesswork. You wouldn’t want someone “figuring it out as they go” while holding the controls. And the same principle applies to your business.

Why “They Can Grow Into the Role” Rarely Works

The problem with this mindset is that it places the success of your business—or worse, the morale of your team—on an unproven gamble. In my experience, almost every time I’ve heard a leader say, “They can grow into the role,” it ends in failure. The person either struggles to meet expectations or, more often than not, gets fired. Why? Because they weren’t set up for success, and the organization wasn’t prepared to provide the level of mentorship or support they’d need to overcome the steep learning curve.

This isn’t to say people can’t grow or develop. Of course, they can. But there’s a difference between nurturing talent within a structured framework and throwing someone into deep waters without a life jacket. When you hire someone for potential rather than readiness, you’re taking a massive risk—and the consequences can ripple across your entire organization.

The Costs of Betting on Potential

Let’s break down why this gamble is so costly:

1. Mission Delays: Just as an unprepared co-pilot can slow or jeopardize a flight mission, an underqualified leader can stall progress on critical business initiatives.
2. Team Frustration: Your existing team members often end up picking up the slack, shouldering additional responsibilities, or fixing mistakes, which can lead to resentment and burnout.
3. Turnover and Disruption: If the hire fails, you’re left restarting the hiring process—a costly endeavor in terms of both time and money.
4. Cultural Mismatch: The wrong hire can disrupt team dynamics, eroding trust and collaboration within your organization.

When you’re running a business, whether it’s a high-growth startup or a large enterprise, every role is critical. And just like in aviation, the stakes are too high to fill those roles with unproven capabilities.

I’ve seen this play out firsthand. A peer of mine was under pressure to hire a specialized executive for his team after struggling to find the right candidate for months. After interviewing one candidate, I advised him not to hire her, pointing out several red flags. Despite my concerns, he convinced himself that she could “grow into the role” with the right mentorship. Unfortunately, that mentorship never materialized. Left to figure things out on her own, she struggled to keep up and, through no fault of her own, was let go less than a year later.

This experience serves as a stark reminder: the costs of betting on potential without proper validation and support can be devastating—not just for the individual, but for the entire organization. Are you willing to take that risk with your team?

The Right Way to Develop Talent

There’s nothing wrong with developing people—but it needs to happen in the right way. In aviation, new pilots don’t start in the cockpit of a C-5 Galaxy. They begin with rigorous training, simulator sessions, and smaller missions that allow them to build confidence and experience in a controlled environment. Only when they’ve proven their capabilities and passed every test are they trusted to take the controls of a hundred-million-dollar aircraft.In business, the same approach applies. If you want someone to grow into a leadership role, they need structured development, clear expectations, and the right mentorship. Here’s how to make that happen:

1. Start with the Right Foundation: Hire for behaviors and capabilities, not just potential. Look for qualities like adaptability, critical thinking, and resilience—traits that indicate they can handle pressure and learn quickly.
2. Validate Readiness: Before promoting someone into a new role, test them in lower-stakes environments. Give them projects, stretch assignments, or interim responsibilities to gauge their readiness.
3. Provide Clear Support: Growth doesn’t happen in a vacuum. Ensure they have access to mentorship, training, and feedback to help them succeed.
4. Set Clear Expectations: Define what success looks like in the role and ensure they understand the benchmarks they need to hit.

There’s no greater example of a mentor than Michael Burcham, who many years ago, built the local Nashville Entrepreneur Center, utilizing the mentorship concept to grow and scale startup businesses.

The Bottom Line: Hire for Today, Develop for Tomorrow

The phrase “They can grow into the role” often sounds like an optimistic solution to a hiring challenge, but it’s usually a recipe for turbulence. Instead, hire for proven abilities and behaviors that match the demands of the role today, while creating a clear path for growth and development over time.

Remember, just as a flight crew’s readiness is essential to the success of every mission, the people you place in critical business roles are vital to your organization’s success. Don’t gamble on potential without validation. Hire the right person for the right role, provide the right support, and your entire organization will soar higher.

Learn more about building a strong foundation, growing, and scaling in the Built to Soar Book.