Who doesn’t love an underdog story? From ancient classics like David and Goliath, the tortoise and the hare, and Mulan, all the way to our modern stories of Rocky Balboa, Seabiscuit, and even Harry Potter, we get a thrill out of seeing the unlikely candidate overcome the odds to win.
Just as beloved underdog stories are part of our culture, they are likewise a well-covered narrative in the business world. We’re inspired by the stories of people like Ursula Burns, who ascended from living in public housing with her Panamanian immigrant parents to become the first black woman to serve as a Fortune 500 CEO. And many of us are familiar with the legendary story of Sidney Weinberg, a junior high school dropout who worked his way up from being a janitor’s assistant to the CEO of Goldman Sachs.
At their heart, underdog stories are about the recognition of potential. Underdogs remind us it’s possible for people who don’t fit the traditional model of potential to overcome the odds to achieve great things. Thus, underdog stories are often held up as positive models as we work to build better diversity in leadership.
But for HR and talent professionals, underdog success stories represent a failure. Why didn’t you recognize their potential in the first place? What talent systems do you have in place that failed to identify that candidate as having potential? And while one underdog could overcome the barriers, what equally talented people like that underdog are getting caught on those same barriers?
Find out more about the issues with underdogs and how to adjust your talent processes to find the hidden potential.
