5 Ways to Spot a Potential Leader
Not everyone has what it takes. Next
time you're sitting in a meeting, look for these five obvious signs of a great
leader.
As a leader, one of your key roles
is to identify and develop potential future leaders.
For me, the most telling environment
in which to assess leadership potential is that old stand-by, the management
meeting. Precisely because it is often routine, prosaic, even boring, the
contrast between those who have leadership potential (and those who don't) is
often stark.
Here are some of the most obvious
contrasts:
1. Engagement (Screens vs. People)
Managers look at screens; leaders
engage with people. If you want to be taken seriously as a leader, put the
screens away when you're in a meeting. Look at the people in the room, not at
your laptop. Talk to them. Focus on them, not at your handheld or your
smartphone.
Conversely, if you want to be
thought of as a manager rather than a leader, fire up your laptop and start
pecking at it during every meeting you attend. Or grab your phone every seven
minutes and stare intently at it. Make clear that the day-to-day tactical
detail of your job is way more important to you than the strategic issues
everyone else is there to discuss.
2. Failure
Yes, it went wrong. Yes, it was
Jane's fault. Leaders don't whine--they let it go.
3. Affectation
"Check me out." is fine; "LOOK AT ME!!!" is not.
If you choose to call attention to
yourself by the use over-studied body language, convoluted verbal gymnastics or
outrageous clothing, don't be surprised to find you're consistently overlooked
for leadership positions. Those already in leadership positions know that if
you're that insecure, leadership will chew you up and spit you out.
4. Composure
It's only 11 minutes into this
meeting and you're jiggling your leg under the table like you need a fix of
something, and you want me to trust you in a leadership position? I don't think
so.
If you're gnawing at your nails like
armageddon is approaching, chomping through every candy at the table like it's
your last, or tearing the label off your water bottle like you're disarming an
explosive device then I'm not 100% sure I want to hand you the delicate
controls of my business.
True leaders are too intensely
focussed to get agitated, too engaged to be nervous, and too invested to be
bored.
5. Focus
Most people can start an all-day
meeting engaged and alert. The indication that you might be leadership material
is the degree to which you're engaged and alert at 3:37 in the afternoon, when
the carb load of lunchtime and the dreaded perusal of a multi-tabbed
spreadsheet combine to narcoleptic effect.
http://www.inc.com/les-mckeown/how-to-spot-a-potential-leader.html
No comments:
Post a Comment