Who Took a Chance on You? How Opportunity, Timing, and Trust Shape Careers

Sometimes it only takes one person believing in you to set your career in motion.

At DRG, we spend a lot of time talking with leaders about their career journeys. Through our work helping nonprofit organizations identify and recruit talent, we hear countless stories about professional growth, leadership, and success. One thing we hear less often, however, is how those journeys began and the people who recognized potential before there was a long track record of achievement.

Experience and hard work matter. But many successful careers are also shaped by timing, opportunity, and someone willing to take a chance on emerging talent.

Recently, I was reminded of this while talking with two accomplished nonprofit leaders whose careers began because someone saw their potential before they had years of experience to draw on. One of them is the executive director of an organization doing amazing work across the country. The other person has been the chief development officer for a national organization with a $24M annual budget.

The executive director started her career working on electoral campaigns. Someone she knew from a Democratic Party organization saw her potential and hired her to work on a “long-shot” special election US Senate race. This person saw in my friend a strong backbone, an organized approach, and a strategic mind. The candidate won the election, setting the director on a path where the people she met on the campaign, including the newly elected Senator, would introduce her to her future employer: the nationally impactful nonprofit.

Years ago, the chief development officer had just graduated from college when the board chair of a small ACLU state office hired him to be their next ED—and he wasn’t even a lawyer. But the board chair saw in him determination, backbone, and the personality of someone who might be able to raise money and grow the office. That set this soon-to-be fundraising professional on his career path for the next 30 years.

These stories are different, but they share a common theme. Neither person was hired solely because they checked every box. Someone looked beyond credentials and saw qualities that are harder to measure: judgment, resilience, leadership potential, and the ability to grow into a larger role.

In executive search, we often talk about experience and qualifications. Those matter. But great leaders are also developed because someone invested in them early, opened a door, or gave them an opportunity to prove themselves.

When I interview candidates, I always want them to share details about their experience. I am also interested in the moments and relationships that shaped their path. Those early opportunities often reveal something important about how leaders grow and develop over time.

As for me, I have no clue what Susan Liss, my first boss, saw in me, except that I was a new lawyer who had just passed the Bar. Someday I will ask her. I had recently finished an internship in Washington, DC with Susan’s previous boss, Michael Pertschuk, the former Chair of the Federal Trade Commission. At the time, Susan, along with Ricki Seidman, a longtime progressive activist, was setting up People for the American Way’s first legal team.

I was incredibly lucky to be hired to join them. That opportunity set me on my path as a public interest advocate and Hill staffer. Looking back, I realize that my career, like those of so many leaders I meet through my work at DRG, was shaped not only by hard work, but also by someone who was willing to see potential and open a door.

My second career, as an executive search consultant, also began unexpectedly when I was asked to do a favor for a friend and former colleague who was hiring new staff for a PR firm where I had worked. It’s another reminder that careers are often built through a combination of preparation, timing, relationships, and opportunity.

For nonprofit organizations, the question is equally important in the other direction: Who are you taking a chance on today?

The strongest leaders often emerge because someone recognized their potential before it was obvious. As organizations think about hiring, succession planning, and leadership development, creating opportunities for emerging talent may be one of the most important investments they can make.

And if you’re interviewing for a new role, don’t be afraid to share those formative moments. They often reveal as much about leadership potential and professional growth as a list of accomplishments ever could.