Stacking the Deck for Your Team’s Success
When you sit down at a card table, you quickly learn two things: skill matters, but so does luck. You might hold a handful of promise and still watch the game slip away because the one card you need never comes. Or you play well, but someone else happens to get a better run. That’s the nature of the game.
Work can feel the same. Many of us know colleagues who are sharp, capable, and committed, but who never seem to catch that break. Their potential is visible, but the “winning card” they need - whether that’s a timely opportunity, a supportive mentor, or the space to prove themselves - never materialises. It’s frustrating for them, and it can be disheartening for those around them who see what they could achieve if only the right chance appeared.
Recognising the Good Hand
As leaders and teammates, part of our role is to notice when someone’s holding a strong hand. They may not yet have the confidence to play it boldly, or they may not realise the strength of what they bring. By naming their potential, we validate what they’ve got and keep their motivation alive when the missing card doesn’t turn up.
Creating More Chances to Play
The real difference often comes when we increase the number of times someone gets to play. In cards, you can’t change the deck, but you can keep showing up for another round. In the workplace, that looks like:
Offering opportunities to stretch skills in safe but challenging ways.
Circulating information and networks so people aren’t shut out of the game before it begins.
Removing unnecessary barriers that waste energy and stall progress.
It’s not about guaranteeing a win—no one can do that. It’s about ensuring people have the right support, resources, and environment to play to their potential, which eventually translates into results.
Sitting Beside, Not Above
Sometimes support is less about strategy and more about presence. Just sitting beside someone as they play - listening, encouraging, sharing your experience - can make all the difference when frustration starts to set in. It’s a reminder that they’re not alone at the table, even when the cards are against them.
The Break That Changes Everything
For most of us, our career stories include moments where the right card finally turned up: the project that let us shine, the leader who trusted us, the chance that seemed small at first but became pivotal. Those breaks aren’t accidents. They’re created by environments that value potential as much as performance.
The truth is, not everyone will win every round. But when we help our team members see the strength in their hand, give them more chances to play, and sit beside them through the frustrating stretches, we increase the odds that their winning card will eventually arrive. And when it does, it’s not just their victory - it’s the whole team’s.
Look around your table. Who’s holding a good hand but just needs the right card? How can you help them stay in the game long enough for that card to come?