The talent curse: why high potentials struggle - and how they can grow through it

High-potential employees can falter when idealization and identification, two psychological mechanisms, combine to form a trap: others idealize the high performer's talent as a component of the firm's future, and the high performer then identifies with that perception. The article presents three ways for avoiding this trap: owning one's talent rather than being possessed by it; bringing one's whole self - not simply one's best self - to the job; and valuing the present. In addition, however, organizations must also have a role in breaking the talent-curse trap by not offering current responsibility with the promise of future authority, and permit individuals the ability to deviate from the leadership image as drawn by others.