Match Leadership Experience to the Challenge: Forget 'Right Stuff' Attributes in Picking Growth Leaders

A national retailer wants to expand into e-commerce, so they select their most celebrated brick-and-mortar manager—the one with the steadiest numbers and smoothest store operations—as head of digital. Within months, the launch stumbles: the manager is uncomfortable with technical ambiguity, can’t make sense of digital metrics, and feels paralyzed by needing to pivot away from the original plan. When they review what went wrong, it’s clear: the skills and reflexes the manager had built over years running physical stores are not transferable to the world of rapid iteration, constant data analysis, and hands-on customer troubleshooting.

In another company, the HR chief interviews for a new product head not on degrees or résumé sparkle, but on stories of having weathered failed launches, changing strategies midstream, and picking up on weak market signals. The hire proves invaluable: their instincts for recognizing when a plan is failing (and bouncing back) turn the digital launch into a measured success.

The underlying science—sometimes called the “school of experience” theory—shows the most critical leadership skill in disruptive ventures is not pure winning streaks or impressive titles, but the ability to acquire, apply, and adapt insight from experience navigating similar challenges. The best talent isn’t always the most polished or obvious.

As you build your next project team or seek leaders for a new division, first outline what practical, high-stakes challenges you know will arise in the months ahead. Then, skip over generic character traits and dig into the real-world experiences, even failures, that have prepared your candidates (inside or outside your company) to tackle those obstacles. If you can’t find someone with the right background, design stretch assignments and training so your promising talent can get that essential hands-on exposure before being thrown into the deep end. Prioritize this approach, and you’ll discover leadership that truly fits.