Hidden Diamonds
Every person has real capability that does not show up on a CV. Hidden Diamonds are the capability, resilience, and proven character forged through genuine pressure. These six questions help you recognise them in yourself and in others.
These questions are conversation starters. Use them in one-to-ones. Use them in team meetings. Have lunch or a coffee with someone and ask these questions.
Listen to what the answers reveal about real capability, resilience, and worth. The goal is not to interview someone. It is to understand the person in front of you more clearly.
Setbacks and Learning
This question reveals character, not job performance. Not how well you handle pressure in a controlled environment. Real setbacks. The moments when things went wrong and you had to find your way back. What did that experience actually teach you? What did you learn about your resilience, your values, your capability?
What You Have Created
This is where you learn who someone really is. Not their job title. What they care about. What they will invest time and energy in when nobody is asking them to. What they have built. What problem they solved because it mattered to them. This reveals initiative, creativity, values, and what actually motivates someone.
The Person Who Believed
Everyone has a moment where someone sees something before they can see it themselves. This question reveals relationships, influence, and the people who shaped someone's confidence. It also shows what that person may need to hear now.
Permission to Try
This surfaces real potential. Real aspiration. What would they do if the obstacles disappeared? What are they capable of that nobody knows yet? Sometimes it is logistics. Sometimes it is permission from someone else. Sometimes it is their own doubts. Listen to what is holding them back.
Leading Without Permission
Leadership without a title is often the most revealing kind. This question reveals instinct, values, and natural capability. When did they choose to lead? What situation made them step forward? What motivated them?
What Others See
This is the blind spot question. Other people often see capability first. What do people tell them they are good at? What feedback have they received that does not match how they see themselves? This is often where real capability is waiting to be named.
Listen more than you talk. You are not trying to solve anything or fix anything. You are trying to understand. When someone answers, follow up. Ask why. Ask for examples. Show genuine curiosity about their answer.
You might discover that the person sitting across from you is far more capable than their job title suggests. And they might discover something about themselves too. Sometimes we do not see our own capability until someone asks the right question and listens to the answer.
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Ask these questions. See what opens up. If you are looking for more on Hidden Diamonds and how to apply it across your organisation, explore the full methodology.
