Truly valuable talent has never been identified through a single interview.

Truly exceptional people don’t suddenly grow just by joining a community, attending a few classes, memorizing a few concepts, and learning a few tricks.

If I were to use Patriarch Subhuti from Journey to the West as an analogy, I think what a community should really learn isn’t “how to teach people,” but how Subhuti discovered someone, assessed them, nurtured them, and ultimately sent them out into the world.

Because at its core, top-tier talent development isn’t about shaping someone into the person you want them to be.

Instead, it’s about gradually bringing out and amplifying qualities that were already there but hadn’t yet been discovered.

One: The first thing to do when a truly talented person joins the community is not train them, but observe them

What’s the first thing many communities do when they bring in a newcomer?

Bring people into the chatroom.

Share materials.

Schedule training sessions.

Explain the project.

Teach operations.

Teach trading.

Teach them how to post on Twitter.

They can’t wait to package a newcomer as a “core member” within three days.

This is actually the least effective way to develop people.

Because you don’t even know who this person is yet.

When someone first joins the community, what they say is worth very little.

“I work really hard.”

“I’m highly capable of getting things done.”

“I’m very bullish on Web3.”

“I want to become a KOL someday.”

Anyone can say these things.

What’s truly worth observing is:

When no one’s watching, will you take the initiative?

When there’s no reward, will you still see the task through?

When everyone else is chatting, will you quietly do your own research?

If you’re given a vague task, will you wait for an answer or find one yourself?

When something fails, is your first reaction to make excuses or find the cause?

So the first stage of discovering talent in a community shouldn’t be called a “training period.”

It should be called:

Observation period.

Don’t rush to teach.

Let them get to work first.

Because a person’s true abilities often show up where no one has asked them to do anything.

Two: The truly capable aren’t necessarily the ones who follow instructions best

This is one of the most common mistakes communities make.

What kind of people do managers like?

Obedient.

Quick to execute.

Respond promptly.

They just do whatever they’re assigned.

It’s best not to ask too many questions.

But does that kind of person really have to be talented?

Not necessarily.

People truly worth developing sometimes make managers feel that they’re “not easy to manage.”

Because they’ll ask:

Why?

Is there a better way?

Is this really necessary?

Could another approach work better?

Sometimes, they’ll even push back against you directly.

If a community can only accommodate people who “follow instructions,” it will end up producing nothing but a group of executors.

And not talent.

What the Xinghe community really needs to find are people with independent judgment.

Because the crypto world changes so fast.

Today’s approach may not work tomorrow.

Today’s consensus may be overturned the day after tomorrow.

If someone can only wait for their superiors to give them the answer, they’ll immediately lose their direction when the environment changes.

Truly talented people need to have one ability:

They still dare to make a judgment when there’s no clear right answer.

Three: The most important question in discovering talent isn’t “What can you do?” but “Who do you really want to become?”

When Sun Wukong went to seek instruction, Patriarch Bodhi asked him what he wanted to learn.

Sun Wukong wasn’t actually looking to learn a bunch of flashy tricks.

Their goal is crystal clear:

I want to overcome mortality.

So no matter how impressive something is, if it has nothing to do with their goals, they won’t want it.

This matters just as much in the Xinghe community.

When a newcomer joins, don’t immediately ask:

“Can you run a Twitter account?”

“Can you write articles?”

“Can you handle operations?”

“Can you find projects?”

Start by asking a more important question:

Who do you really want to become in this industry?

Someone wants to become a trader.

Someone wants to become a researcher.

Someone wants to become a project lead.

Someone is suited to community operations.

Someone is good at content.

Someone is good at business development.

Some people are natural organizers.

Others may seem incapable of doing anything, but they have an extremely rare ability:

Spotting problems.

One of the biggest dangers in developing talent is turning everyone into the same kind of person.

What a truly advanced community should do is:

Don’t expect everyone to become like Xinghe. Help each person find their own way of being.

Four: True talent is revealed not in exams, but in the little things

Many people think that discovering talent requires designing a very complicated evaluation system.

Not necessarily.

Just give them a task.

For example:

“Help me research a BSC ecosystem project.”

An ordinary person might wait for you to give them a template.

Someone a little better will finish gathering the materials and hand them over to you.

Truly talented people may do three extra things:

First, they’ll find the project’s official information themselves.

Second, they actively verify the data instead of copying other people’s opinions.

Third, they’ll eventually tell you:

“I don’t think this project is worth researching, for these three reasons.”

This is when you should pay attention.

Because they’ve moved from “completing tasks” to “making independent judgments.”

So when a community evaluates talent, it shouldn’t only look at:

Task completion rate.

You should also look at:

They went a few steps beyond the assigned task.

Many top talents are discovered by taking a few extra steps like these.

Five: Truly advanced development doesn’t give people answers; it gives them questions

This is the most valuable lesson Xinghe can learn from Patriarch Bodhi’s approach to teaching.

Basic development:

“This project is great. Go do it.”

Advanced development:

“If you had to decide whether a project is worth pursuing, which five metrics would you look at?”

Basic management:

“Post three tweets every day.”

Advanced management:

“Why do you think our content isn’t getting shared? Figure out the reason yourself.”

Basic training:

“This is the alpha. Just follow it.”

Advanced development:

“If this alpha stops working, how would you figure out why?”

The former builds execution; the latter builds judgment.

A community’s strength doesn’t come from having one exceptionally capable leader.

It’s because even when the leader isn’t there, the people below them can still make the right decisions.

Six: Truly scarce resources shouldn’t be distributed equally

One of the biggest misconceptions in many communities is “treating everyone equally.”

It seems fair on the surface.

All the materials are public.

All opportunities are made public.

All core resources are made public.

And in the end, no one truly grew.

Because truly scarce things shouldn’t be distributed equally in the first place.

What is a community’s most valuable resource?

Key information.

Core projects.

Key connections.

Core decisions.

Core funds.

Core opportunities.

Who should get these things?

It shouldn’t go to the people who joined the group earliest.

And it shouldn’t go to whoever has the loudest voice.

And definitely not to people who flatter you every day.

These should go to people who have already proven themselves over time.

So a truly advanced talent development system should look like this:

Observe first, then give them a trial; start with limited authority, then grant more; start with modest resources, then provide core resources.

Trust isn’t built by shouting about it.

It’s earned by keeping promises, time and again.

Seven: True development turns a person’s unique traits into their weapons

This may be the most important part of the entire development system.

When many managers see someone’s weakness, their first instinct is to fix it.

Someone is too introverted:

“You need to speak up more.”

Someone is too blunt:

“You need to be more tactful.”

Someone is too stubborn:

“You need to be more flexible.”

Someone doesn’t like socializing:

“You need to meet more people.”

What’s the final result?

Everyone becomes more and more alike.

The very best way to nurture people is exactly the opposite.

You’re introverted, but you’re good at research.

Then let you do research.

You’re not good at expressing yourself, but your reasoning is exceptionally strong.

Then let you work on strategy.

You’re especially good at chatting and energizing people.

Then let you run the community.

You enjoy researching on-chain data.

Then let you work on alpha.

You’re especially good at organizing people.

Then let you lead a small team.

The goal isn’t to erase someone’s individuality, but to turn it into productivity.

Sun Wukong didn’t fly by the book. Patriarch Bodhi didn’t force him to become someone else; he worked with his natural traits and ultimately came up with the somersault cloud.

That’s what truly tailoring development to the individual looks like.

Eight: The turning point in talent development—from “I want to prove myself” to “I want to create results”

Many young people are eager to prove themselves as soon as they gain a little ability.

They write an article and can’t wait for everyone to like it.

Spot an alpha and immediately try to prove how brilliant you were to find it.

Finish a project, then immediately want everyone to know how capable you are.

That’s perfectly normal.

But this is also a hurdle talent must overcome to grow.

Because:

Junior talent seeks visibility.

Mid-level talent seeks recognition.

Senior talent seeks results.

Top talent doesn’t even care whether people know they were the one who did it.

They only care about whether things improve.

So what the community should really develop isn’t “the person who knows how to put on the best show.”

Instead:

Someone who gives the credit to the team and leaves the results in the account.

Nine: Why truly talented people must eventually be “let go”

When someone is new, you can guide them step by step.

Later, you can give them standards to follow.

Later, you can give them goals.

After that, you only need to give them boundaries.

By the end, you shouldn’t even be setting their goals for them.

Because if someone always needs the community to tell them:

What to do today.

What to research tomorrow.

Who to ask when problems arise.

Who to turn to when risks arise.

Then they’ll always just be a member of the community.

And not talent.

What does it mean to truly graduate?

It’s when, one day:

The community doesn’t give them the answer.

They know what they should research.

They know what they should refuse.

They know when to place a bet.

They know when to cut their losses.

They know when to persevere.

They also know when it’s time to leave.

This is when a truly talented person finally begins to emerge.

Ten: So a truly top-tier community development system should follow these seven steps

Step one:

Observe.

Don’t rush to develop them. First, see what they’re like when no one is supervising them.

Step two:

Trial and error.

Give them small tasks that reveal their true abilities.

Step three:

Positioning.

Find what they’re truly good at instead of forcing everyone down the same path.

Step four:

Delegate authority.

Give them more and more resources and decision-making authority, and let their abilities translate into results.

Step five:

Course correction.

It’s okay to make mistakes, but they must understand why they were wrong.

Step six:

Delegate authority.

Don’t make every decision for them. Let them start taking responsibility for the consequences.

Step seven:

Let go.

Ultimately, help them move beyond being “managed” and become people who can create value independently.

In the end, I’ve come to feel more and more strongly that:

The measure of a truly great community has never been how many people it has.

Instead:

Three years from now, how many people in this group will have become truly outstanding?

If a community spends every day recruiting people, holding events, and shouting slogans, but never develops people who can solve problems independently, then it’s just a lively chat group.

But if a community can keep discovering newcomers and help an ordinary newcomer become a researcher, trader, KOL, project lead, community leader, or even someone capable of independently leading a team—

That’s when the community will truly have a life of its own.

So what the Xinghe community really needs to do isn’t “recruit more people.”

Instead:

Find those who already have a spark, then give them time, resources, opportunities, and a stage.

More importantly, once they’ve truly grown, dare to let go.

Because a truly great teacher never expects their students to follow them for life.

A top-tier community doesn’t make its members dependent on it for life.

The very best kind of development is when one day you look back and realize:

This person no longer needs you to tell them the answer.

They have their own judgment.

Has abilities of their own.

They have a direction of their own.

And the courage to take responsibility for the results.

Only then will the Xinghe community have truly nurtured a talented person.

And this may be a community’s greatest competitive advantage.

Not traffic.

Not money.

Not resources.

Instead, keep helping ordinary people become people who can create value.

(P.S. Thanks for reading to the end. You’re welcome to join the Xinghe community—visit my profile and join the Xinghe Chengfeng chatroom. Let’s grow together in Xinghe.)