People grow

As I stepped into an appointment with the senior VP of a company, he was just finishing of a conversation with his colleague from HR. They were shortlisting a list of candidates for interviews. As the lady from HR walked out of the office, I could see that she was not particularly pleased with the outcome of the meeting - her top shortlisted candidate was not given a go ahead for the next round.

" I knew this guy almost ten years back when I was a manager. He was in my department, nice chap, got along with everyone, good attitude. But I didn't see enough horse power up there. I am hiring for a director level position and he was mediocre at best. " The Sr. VP muttered, almost justifying his decision to me.

"What would you do?", he then asked, putting me in a spot.

"You were a manager ten years back. Would you say that you are the same person now?", I enquired.

He got on the intercom and dialed HR. " I have changed my mind. Let's give him a look", he thundered.

Observing colleagues who are at the early stages of their career, we tend to make a mental trajectory of their career path. Some have great promise, some are write offs, some won't last because of bad attitude. And there are some who you can't quite place - output is average but nice to have around. For the folks in the last category, I have always been pleasantly surprised at how most have turned out. Over time and armed with a positive approach, they have managed to find their footing and develop skills that makes them unrecognizable second time around.

So if someone that you knew from back then ends up knocking your door for an opportunity, don't discard them by referring to your mental note from back then - people grow.

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