The right leaders can go a long way in helping your company reach all its goals. For example, this study shows that 39 percent of surveyed employees believe that people in their company don’t collaborate enough. This often comes down to a lack of leadership.
If you want to find your next leader, here are five questions you should address:
1. Who has the most potential on your current team?
Don’t focus so much on past performance, but instead turn your attention to who has the most potential for future success.
Some of your highest performing workers may not have the ability to turn into a good leader. This is why you need to focus more on potential and less on current and past performance.
2. Which employees show signs of proactively seeking ways to improve the company?
There are employees who do what they are told and nothing more. There are also those who are proactive in making suggestions for improvement. These are the types of people who make great leaders.
Pay close attention to who’s taking the initiative and who’s simply along for the ride. An example of this would be a worker who finds a security loophole with your online store, provides guidance on implementing a fix, and sees the project through.
3. Which employees hold themselves accountable for failure and mistakes?
In a perfect world, every employee would do the right thing every time. They would never make a single mistake. But this isn’t the real world.
Day in and day out, people make mistakes that impact their individual performance as well as that of the company formation as a whole.
After a mistake is made, an employee can do one of two things:
- Take responsibility
- Blame it on someone else
Leaders take full responsibility for mistakes. They also do whatever it takes to avoid a similar mishap in the future.
4. Who is capable of taking on extra responsibility without their work suffering?
Once you have a potential leader in mind, it’s time to throw some extra responsibilities on their plate.
There aren’t many people who can successfully multitask, but you want to keep your eyes open for those who thrive in this type of environment.
Don’t hesitate to pull this person aside, let them know your thoughts on their work, and tell them that you want to see if they can take on more responsibility. This will ensure that both parties are on the same page. It will also ensure that the person does their best to impress.
5. Who has top of the line communication skills?
There are many traits of top leaders, with high level communication skills at the top of the list.
Everyone has their own leadership style, but the best leaders are able to communicate their thoughts and get others to follow them.
How does the person communicate with supervisors, colleagues, clients, and prospects? Is he or she able to clearly share their thoughts with others?
Simply put, the best leaders are able to communicate effectively.
Conclusion
Finding your next leader is easier said than done.
If you ask yourself the five questions above, it’s easier to identify potential leaders within your organization.
What steps do you take when it’s time to find your next leader? Do you have a system in place for doing so? Share your personal approach in the comments section below.
