The Charles Koch Foundation (CKF) is a founding sponsor of the inaugural Human Potential Summit, which will bring together employers, investors, talent innovators, and education providers to catalyze a talent development movement that centers on the individual and unlocks potential through skills and strengths. The summit, set for October 14-16, 2024, is the brainchild of Human Potential Capital Founder Taylor McLemore. CKF’s Executive Director Ryan Stowers sat down with McLemore to discuss the summit and the principles that animate the human potential movement. This article is the first of two.
Stowers: It’s great to be with you, Taylor. Let’s get right into it. How will the Human Potential Summit be unlike other conferences? What’s it going to look like?
McLemore: It’s great to talk to you, Ryan, and, yes, we want the summit to be unique. We don’t need just another convening — we need something to spur action. The whole point of the summit is to offer examples of what has worked.
Two conference design features will help us achieve that goal. First, we know there’s a need for economic mobility and meaningful careers for all workers. That’s an aggressive mission, and we’re going to need many people to exchange ideas to achieve it. A lot of conferences pull people from specific job functions or type of company. We’re bringing together a heterogenous group so participants can draw inspiration from many sources.
Second, we’re thinking about the audience differently. In fact, we’re not even using the term audience. They’re participants — people showing up because they intend to take action. In that vein, participants won’t see panels of four or five people. That structure can lead to superficial conversations. Instead, we’ve taken the concept of the case study as inspiration. The person or people on the stage will address detailed questions like how they initially structured their programs, scaled them, lessons learned, measuring progress, and more. It’s those layers that will offer a deep understanding of how innovative employers are making progress.
Stowers: You talked about economic mobility, and that’s a big part of the political conversation in our country today. Why is it the right time for this event? What evidence do you see that indicates there’s a demand for this convening?
McLemore: Over the last several years, we’ve seen a deterioration in the trust people have in many institutions in our society. That’s unfortunate, and there are many reasons for it, but it presents an opportunity. As a key institution, businesses can step forward to demonstrate respect for employees, and a belief in the gifts and talent of their employees. There’s a real opportunity for employers to lead as a cornerstone of our communities and help people, families, and the nation prosper.
I think we’re also starting to understand a large percentage of people aren’t in the right job. What I mean by “right job” is one that maximizes a person’s ability to contribute. Because of this mismatch, people aren’t motivated. They’re disengaged. When we look at how people are approaching work, it’s transactional, meaning there’s more job hopping and less loyalty. Employers have addressed turnover by hiring more people faster instead of saying, “What does it look like for me to invest in my people and the experience of being at this company so they don’t want to leave?” That’s hard to do, but imagine a world where everyone was in a job that was motivating to them and where they wanted to contribute. How strong and vibrant would our economy, our society, our communities be?
Stowers: You said before you don’t want a homogenous group of participants. Who should attend the summit?
McLemore: Generally, I would say people eager to try new things when it comes to talent development and advancing economic mobility. No single person in an organization has sole ownership over talent. The hiring process doesn’t even involve just one person. This conference is for all talent innovators. On the employer side, that means everyone from CEOs to managers.
Now, we shouldn’t expect employers to solve talent challenges by themselves. The question is, then, who can help? One thing we’re trying to do with the summit is organize an ecosystem so the people with a problem are closer to the people building solutions. One of the most compelling sources of solutions is entrepreneurs because they’re great at solving difficult questions in bottom up ways. Perhaps some people want the government to come in and solve this problem, but we see deep alignment with entrepreneurs building for-profit solutions because the main driver of employment in our country is for-profit; companies hiring people. So, there is no better match than finding for-profit solutions.
Stowers: Entrepreneurs drive bottom up solutions — they examine the problem and build solutions from there. Besides working from the bottom up, what other principles drive the people and organizations you want to attract?
McLemore: Sure, I’d really start with individuals and company leaders who believe every person has gifts and talents — who believe in the unique power of every person. I think the people who will be drawn to this summit know systems that treat everyone the same leave a lot of potential on the table.
The other unifying factor is the belief that the employer-employee relationship isn’t just a transaction and should be mutually beneficial. My hope is that summit participants see that a deeper, long-term relationship happens when employers invest in individual potential and help people unlock their unique gifts and hidden talents.
Also, I just think the people who will want to participate in the summit are ready to make progress. Again, that’s what this summit is about. It’s important we start from principles, but then we have to ask how to make progress based on those principles. We want participants not only to be inspired, but to actually have an idea about how they can move forward to create something new.
Stowers: And what is the result of that action? How does work and learning look different if more employers embrace hiring based on potential?
McLemore: We’ll start to see mutual benefit at the center of the employer-employee relationship, and we’ll start to see that employers are as important as higher education when it comes to training and talent development.
This shift will be subtle at first, but eventually innovative companies that approach talent development differently will find people who were underappreciated and, honestly, discarded. These companies are going flourish. You know, I’m a strong believer in the power of markets to generate results based on who is allocating resources effectively. Talent is a resource. Employers are going to figure out that when they find the right talent for their business and cultivate it, they start outperforming.
Then it’s going to snowball. Hopefully companies that are being outperformed recognize what’s happening and shift. Then, we’ll see a society and economy built on the belief that people can create massive value when they’re aptitudes are cultivated and they’re in jobs that align with their gifts, talents, and identity.
