Believing in someone before they’ve proven anything is the most underrated gift a leader can give.

Support tends to arrive only after the evidence does, which is the point where it costs nothing. Backing someone early is different, because you are spending your own credibility on a guess. People remember that for years. Often it is what makes the proof possible at all, since the person starts behaving like someone worth backing.

Think of someone around you who is trying at something and is not good yet. Say one specific true thing about what you see, not a general compliment. Then give them a chance to do it where it counts, before they have earned the certainty.