17/09/2025
🌟During 4 intensive days of looking at precious gems, polishing them, admiring their beauty and falling in love for who they will become, I thought of Isaac.
Isaac was our very first trainee years ago. A brilliant Geology student. So brilliant that his shining skin lightened up the office every time he would get in. His height was also impressive, making me turn my head up to look at his curious eyes. Eyes of a warrior that had fought many battles, especially those I could never comprehend.
Isaac was a Congolese refugee seeking asylum in South Africa. His documentation was not ready for a traineeship, but something was telling me that he had to be part of our team, to help us see the unseen, to inspire us to become conscious leaders and to teach us to be kinder and more sensitive to people and cultures.
Most of the times he was in the field with the other experienced geologists, learning, challenging himself, growing. But every time I saw him, I was impacted by our interactions. I saw him flourishing, evolving, contributing to others and taking the opportunity to do something greater with his life.
I learned from him something that I was reminded of by Blair last week: instead of Find the best people, Find the best IN people.
If you are a leader or an HR professional, I am sure you know exactly what I am talking about. In my interactions with the corporate world, most managers keep saying “We need to find the best people”, in a constant wave of competition for talents. I would beg you to change your sentence to “We want to find the best IN people!”. More important than hiring someone, is to truly believe that everyone you hire has the potential to be bigger and to do greater things than they ever thought it was possible.
Every person is brilliant inside. It is our job as leaders to get their brilliance to come out.