A job description tells you what someone was hired to do. It rarely captures everything they understand, notice, or could contribute.

An employee may be unusually good at explaining a confusing process. Another may recognize patterns in customer complaints or understand why a handoff between departments repeatedly fails. These capabilities can remain overlooked when leaders pay attention only to assigned tasks and formal credentials.

The Fully Powered™ Leader approach asks leaders to examine the people and resources already within reach. That includes learning more about capabilities that daily routines may conceal.

Look for evidence in ordinary work

Notice who colleagues approach for help. Who makes complex information understandable? Who identifies a potential problem before it grows? Who helps a group reach a useful decision?

Those observations give you a starting point for a conversation. Ask the employee which responsibilities hold their interest, what experience they bring from previous roles, and where they see an opportunity to improve the work.

Avoid assuming that a capability is something the employee wants to use more often. Someone may be excellent at organizing events and have little interest in making that a larger part of their job. Curiosity includes listening to their preferences.

Connect a capability to a real need

Suppose an employee consistently helps colleagues understand a complicated system. A bounded opportunity might be inviting them to review an onboarding guide and identify where new employees are likely to get stuck.

Agree on the purpose, time commitment, and decision authority. Discuss what work will be reduced or reassigned to create capacity. If the contribution becomes an ongoing responsibility, review whether the role and compensation need to change through the appropriate process.

An overlooked strength should not become an excuse to quietly expand someone’s workload. The opportunity needs to benefit the person as well as the organization.

Test the opportunity before expanding it

Begin with a manageable assignment and define what you want to learn. In the onboarding example, that might mean testing whether the revised guide helps new employees complete one process with fewer questions.

Review the result with the employee and the people affected. What improved? What support was missing? Did the employee enjoy the contribution, and would they want to develop that skill further?

This approach also helps leaders distinguish an interest from a capability that is ready for independent responsibility. Someone may need mentoring or training before taking on a larger assignment.

At your next individual meeting, ask: “What experience or ability do you have that we rarely get to use here?” Listen for something specific, then explore where it could make a meaningful contribution under workable conditions.

Fully Powered™ Leadership Begins With the Conditions We Create.

Dr. Christina Fontana helps organizations uncover the hidden patterns that compromise leadership effectiveness, psychological safety, and workplace performance. By integrating nervous system awareness, behavioral transformation, and the Fully Powered™ Leadership Framework, she helps leaders reclaim their power and unlock the brilliance, contribution, and potential of the people they already have.

Ready to Build a Fully Powered™ Organization?

Your people already have incredible potential. The question is: Are your leadership practices and workplace culture helping them thrive—or holding them back?

Through the Fully Powered™ Leadership Framework, I help organizations identify hidden Power Leaks™, strengthen psychological safety, and create the conditions where leaders and teams feel engaged, energized, and empowered to perform at their best.

Let’s explore what’s possible for your leaders, your people, and your organization.

📩 Email me: [email protected]

💬 Or send me a direct message on LinkedIn to start the conversation.

Because when leaders become Fully Powered™, people thrive—and organizations achieve stronger results.

Dr. Christina Fontana | Leadership Expert | Creator of the Fully Powered™ Leadership Framework