How To Spot Staff Who Have The Potential To Become Leaders
by Abdul Aziz Mondal Business 25 March 2023
Every business needs leaders, someone to be in control of the situation, someone the staff can turn to for direction or help. This is not just about dealing with emergencies, leaders are needed for everyday tasks too, like making sure their team is operating as required.
A good leader can help with motivation and act as the glue that holds a team together, acting as their protector, while also keeping everyone in line.
Without a leader, any team is liable to drift off target, things will be missed and efficiency will decline. This is why leaders are so very important, and if they can be identified from existing staff members, there are added benefits. They will understand not only the jobs that need to be done but also the company culture and products.
Once you’ve spotted any potential leaders amongst your staff, you’ll be able to foster their abilities and train them to lead in an even more effective manner. To spot any potential leaders in your organization, follow these simple tips.
1. Check How They Deal With Failure
The way a person deals with failure is one clue. Experience has shown that someone with leadership potential will look at any failure as an indication of how they can improve themselves and their processes. This not only means that they are unlikely to repeat mistakes, but they are also often drivers of increased efficiency in the workplace.
So keep a lookout for individuals who don’t take their failures to heart and instead learn and adapt. Individuals like these can become great leaders.
2. Spot Motivators And True Team Players
Any business team can experience a drop in motivation levels. This can be caused by an increase in workload, a change in operating procedures, staff changes, and a whole host of other reasons. This lack of motivation can lead to jobs not being done correctly or simply a general lack of efficiency. It is something that can quickly spiral out of control, so has to be nipped in the bud as soon as it becomes apparent. A good leader will spot what is going on and gee up the team in some manner or other. So watch out for such a staff member; if you see them trying to ‘rally the troops’ they could indeed become a future leader in your business.
Also, keep an eye out for individuals who give comfort to their teammates when they see someone struggling.
3. Look Out For People Showing Initiative
No one knows it all, and sometimes even the best leader will miss something, so watch out for staff members who come up with ideas about improving efficiency, things like reducing the time spent on a process, or even a change to an existing process to remove ‘redundant’ actions. Another sign of a good leader is someone who offers help for tasks outside their normal function. This willingness to help is a sure sign that they want to ‘get on’ whilst also wanting to improve your business’s efficiency levels.
4. Find Those With Ambition
Potential leaders are more often than not anxious to be noticed, staying late in the office or offering additional assistance to their team members or leader. They are also likely to come up with ideas and plans for the future. They also understand what they want and know the company’s goals; the best also tune and align the vision of their future career with these goals.
And as ambition can spread and motivate other team members, be sure to identify team members who back the company, as they are more likely to want to climb the promotional ladder. They’ll be valuable assets.
5. Note Those Who Accept And Adapt To Change
There is little in life so certain as change. It comes in all manner of shades and is normally something that people see as a problem rather than something to be welcomed. Sometimes change comes slowly and is easier to adapt to, but in some cases, changes can be dramatic and far-reaching, and worse still happen very quickly, with the need to adapt almost immediately.
As the need to adapt quickly to new circumstances is a crucial skill for any leader, look out for individuals who deal with change effectively, reacting well rather than creating dissent.
Conclusion
By using these tips, you will be able to identify all the potential leaders in your business. You can then move on and start to cultivate their inherent talents. But just how is this best achieved, what training method is proven to bring out the very best in a potential leader (or for that matter enhance the ability of any leadership team)?
Today, the leading contender is business simulation. People learn best by doing and by placing students in a lifelike simulation, they can soon see how to improve their reactions to any situation. It does not matter if they ‘fail’ the simulation either. They and their business remain unharmed. Instead, they will have learned what does not work.
For more information as to how you can use simulations to boost the effectiveness of your leaders, both new and old, talk to Prendo; they have decades of experience, have trained thousands of students, and helped numerous businesses become more efficient.
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