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I tried to translate a phrase but found it difficult to choose proper words. What version of my phrase looks (sounds) better?

  1. A leader is a person who has set free his potential of a leader
  2. A leader is the one who released his leader potential
  3. (some mixture of the above two)

Thank you,

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  • ...who has set free his potential as a leader. But putting "leader" at the beginning and end of the sentence sounds clunky.
    – Cascabel_StandWithUkraine_
    Apr 6, 2020 at 15:46
  • "... who has set his potential free..."
    – GEdgar
    Apr 6, 2020 at 15:59

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Working backwards from the noun, you could use any of the following:

  • leadership potential
  • potential to lead
  • potential to be a leader

Then, for the verb, either achieved, attained or realised would work with any of the above.

But even then, the phrase sounds rather redundant. If someone told me that "A leader is a person who has achieved their leadership potential", I'd have no complaints about the grammar but I'd feel like they're stating the obvious.

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  • What if I avoid redundancy saying this way, "The one, who has release their leadership potential, is now a leader"?
    – Pavel Ehlakov
    Apr 6, 2020 at 16:30
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    @PavelEhlakov, The new suggestion seems to retain the original redundancy, but this issue is secondary. I agree with the sense of the answer given, in that potential does not generally follow the metaphor of being released, as something already inside, but as being moved toward from a different place. Thus, to achieve one's potential, or to realize it are much clearer choices. Concerning the question of making a statement that not redundant, perhaps you would like to describe what you think a leader is, as in, A person with leadership potential is ---, ---, and ---.
    – brainchild
    Apr 7, 2020 at 5:07
  • Another attempt. Imagine a worker is given a tool. But he's never used it. A tool is potential. If a peson is given that potential but never exposed it, or used it, nobody can say he has the tool (potential). Shall I better say, "A learer is the one who used (applied) the leadership potential given to them"?
    – Pavel Ehlakov
    May 5, 2020 at 8:35

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