One indicator of leadership potential is past experience. Has the person demonstrated leader skills in some area outside the setting where you usually see them? But suppose someone you’re considering for a leadership position doesn’t have a track record? How can you spot potential in an emerging leader? Here are four more questions I ask myself when assessing future leaders. You may also wish to ask these questions of people who know the candidate well in a variety of settings.
5. Can they create or catch vision? When I talk to people about the future, I want their eyes to light up. I want them to ask the right questions about what I’m talking about. The founder of a major insurance company built a successful firm from scratch. He assembled some of the greatest insurance people by simply asking, “Why don’t you come and help me build something great?”
A person who doesn’t feel the thrill of challenge is not a potential leader.
6. Do they show a willingness to take responsibility? One night at the end of the second shift, I walked out of the plant and passed the guard. As head of operations, I had started my day at the beginning of the first shift.
The guard said, “Mr. Smith, I sure wish I had your pay, but I don’t want your worry.”
He equated responsibility and worry. He wanted to be able to drop his responsibility when he walked out the door and not carry it home. That’s understandable, but it’s not a trait in potential leaders.
I thought about the guard’s comment driving home. If the vice-president and the guard were paid the same money, I’d still want to be vice-president. Carrying responsibility doesn’t intimidate me, because the joy of accomplishment—the vicarious feeling of contributing to other people—is what leadership is all about.
7. Do they finish the job? A completion factor is essential. I might test somebody’s commitment by putting him or her on a task force. I’d find a problem that needs solving and assemble a group of people whose normal responsibilities don’t include tackling that problem. The person who grabs hold of the problem and won’t let go, like a dog with a bone, has leadership potential. This quality is critical in leaders, for there will be times when nothing but one’s iron will says, “Keep going.”
Dale Carnegie used to say, “I know men in the ranks who will not stay in the ranks. Why? Because they have the ability to get things done.” In the military, it is called “completed staff work.”
With potential leaders, when the work comes in, it’s complete. The half-cooked meal isn’t good enough.
8. Are they tough-minded? No one can lead without being criticized or without facing discouragement. A potential leader needs a mental toughness. I don’t want a mean leader; I want a tough-minded leader who sees things as they are and will pay the price.
Leadership creates a certain separation from one’s peers. The separation comes from carrying responsibility that only you can carry. Years ago, I spoke to a group of presidents in Columbus, Ohio, about loneliness in leadership.
One participant, president of an architectural firm, came up afterward and said, “You’ve solved my problem.”
“What’s your problem?” I asked.
“My organization’s always confused,” he said, “and I didn’t know why. It’s because I don’t like to be lonely; I’ve got to talk about my ideas to the rest of the company. But they never know which ones will work, so everybody who likes my idea jumps to work on it. Those who don’t, work against it. Employees are going backward and forward-when the idea may not even come about at all.”
Fearing loneliness, this president was not able to keep his ideas to himself until they were better formulated. A leader must be able to keep his or her own counsel until the proper time.
Fred Smith is a business executive living in Dallas, Texas, and a consulting editor to Leadership.
To respond to this newsletter. Write to Newsletter@LeadershipJournal.net.
Copyright © 2003 by the author or Christianity Today/Leadership Journal.Click here for reprint information on Leadership Journal.
