How To Spot A Potential Leader
By Vic Downing
© Vic Downing, July 2007
Personality tests and assessment centers don't hold a candle to your own two eyes when it comes to spotting someone in your organization who will succeed in a leadership role. The reason is simple: leader is as leader does. The person who can perform well in a leadership position someday is the person who is leading today… even though he or she is not in a leadership role today.
Five Tests of Leadership Potential
Leader is as leader does.
The truth is, potential leaders are easy to spot… the sad truth is that there aren't many of them. Since there aren't a lot of potential leaders in any organization, you need to be constantly on the look-out for five very reliable indicators:
Contents:
- The Numbers
- Initiative
- Relationships
- Problem Solving Teams
- Performance Under Adverse Conditions
1. The Numbers
Leaders get results (and work hard and care). Would-be leaders try hard and care a lot.
Leaders are people who achieve the objective, solve the problem, find a way: "make their numbers." Any person in your organization who has any chance of leading a team or an organization has got to be "making the numbers" today.
Make a list of the people in your organization. Divide the list into two categories: those who achieve or exceed their performance objectives and those who don't. You are wasting company money if you put people from the second category in leadership positions.
2. Initiative
Leadership means going first, taking a risk, taking action before others take action. No initiative equals no leadership.
No initiative equals no leadership.
Pay attention to how your people perform in meetings: Who is the first to show up? Who is the first to ask an intelligent question? Who is the first to help a colleague untangle a botched presentation? Who is first to take on the assignment the others are trying to avoid? They are your leaders.
Which people make appointments with you to discuss their performance for the quarter? Who stops by to talk with you about business trends that impact your team? Who is first to spot a problem on the horizon… and to suggest a few solutions? They are your leaders.
People who take action today without being asked to do so are the people who will lead tomorrow… those who don't, won't.
3. Relationships
If there is no team, there is no leader.
Look for people who bring other people together and for people who volunteer for a team… even if they are not the person in-charge. Look for the group-to-group bridge builder, the culture-to-culture "translator," the peace-maker, the one who remembers names, the one who "pours oil on the water," the one who steps out of his or her "comfort zone" to know people from different professional disciplines or from dramatically different cultures and life experiences. Look for people who always seem to know someone who can answer the nagging question, get the job done, or "fill the bill." The loner, the "final word" person, the hide-in-my-cubicle person are not your leaders. "People-people" are the people you are looking for.
4. Problem Solving Teams
Successful leaders solve problems… and most problems are so complex that teams of people—not stand-alone experts— are required to solve most problems.
Which of your teams are consistently successful? Who are the people who are common to those teams? Those are probably your next generation of leaders… even if they were not in-charge of the teams. Who on those teams listens more than speaks, and when speaking says something that the others stop and consider? That's your next leader. Who on those teams finds the common ground between members who see things differently, who volunteers to do "the grunt work," who shows up on time, and consistently talks in terms of "us," "our team," and "we" instead of "me," "my team," and "I"? That is your leader.
5. Performance Under Adverse Conditions
Anybody can "lead" when there are plenty of resources, people like each other, the weather is pleasant, and nothing breaks. True leaders lead and succeed when the wheels are coming off the wagon.
Leaders get the job done… even when the wheels are coming off the wagon.
Watch what happens to your people when things go badly. Who is the person who is calm when others are frantic? Who is the person who sees the glass as half full when others think it is half empty? When others talk about what's wrong, who is talking about what can be done? Who is the one who is more skilled at getting the work done on time than fashioning excuses for late work? When there are angry discussions and confusion reigns in team meetings, who is the one who finds the root cause and guides the others to find a solution? When budgets are cut and deadlines shrink, who is the one whose first response is to find a new way of getting the job done instead of pushing back the deadline or trimming-down the deliverables?
A Word to Those Who Aspire to Leadership
Since leader is as leader does, act like a leader today… even though you don't have a leadership position. Here's how to do that:
- Make your numbers… results, not charm, are your ticket in.
- Take initiative, go first, risk… leaders do the right thing first.
- Build relationships, not just networks… be the bridge, be the translator.
- Volunteer to serve on teams that take on problems that must be solved.
- Expect adverse conditions. Put yourself under pressure. Focus on finding causes and solutions. Abandon the illusion that a well run organization means things go the way you've planned.
More Articles by Vic Downing… http://www.globaladvantage.com/
