What sounds more natural and clear - "to set free potential" or "to release potential"?
Solution 1:
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.