How To Recognize Great Leadership Within Your Organization

By David KigerCourtesy of Guillaume DELEBARRE (Guigui-Lille) at Flickr.com

Leadership can be found everywhere and in many forms, as there isn’t a specific type of leader but instead many ways in which amazing leadership potential can be identified. Recognizing the natural leaders within your company, as well as those people who just need a small nudge in the right direction in order to be in charge effectively, is greatly beneficial for the future of the organization. Leadership is the cornerstone of every successful endeavor, so it is important to be able to recognize the assets available already within the company and make the best use of them by properly nourishing existing leadership skills and thus strengthening the company’s own foundations.

As we have mentioned before, leadership cannot be measured with a single yardstick, so identifying potential leaders is something that you can base more on certain attitudes that can be observed in regular everyday situations around the workplace.

Job Performance

One of the best ways to begin identifying and measuring leadership capacity is taking a look at an employee’s performance. People who excel at their job are great individuals to become role models for the rest of your employees. While job performance is very far from being the only indicator of leadership potential, it is a great place to start your evaluation. Leaders are supposed to understand the intricacies of the job at all its levels in order to properly guide team members. More often than not, people complain that their managers have very little understanding or poor skills on the same activities they are supposed to be supervising.

Willingness To Help Others And Make Sacrifices.

Great leaders let their action speak for themselves instead of constantly talking out loud about their own accomplishment. People who care about others and find purpose in helping their co-workers learn and excel, make great leaders because they understand the importance of teamwork and how the organization is just as strong as their weakest link. People are inspired to follow those who are willing to make sacrifices for what is best for the team and not their own personal achievement. A leader cares for the wellbeing of those who follow them and treat them with respect. These attributes can be easily identified from early on when you examine the way your team members work and interact with each other.

Charismatic Personality.

Effective leaders are known for their charisma and the way they are able to empathize with those around them. Charisma goes beyond initial impressions of what we may judge as being “leadership material queues”, charisma runs a lot deeper and it can be witnessed by observing employees that are confident in their own value and at the same time understand how to relate to those around them even they are different from themselves. Great leaders have the ability to motivate those around them to outperform their own expectations and to continue to achieve higher ideals and pursue the goals of the organization.

Aligned with the Company’s Goals.

When you are looking for a leader, you are looking for a person that goes way beyond understanding the company’s policies and knows the employee handbook from cover to cover. You want a certain type of intelligence that aligns with the purpose of the company and understand that those goals are the driving force of the business. Leaders understand why things are done the way they are instead of simply doing them because they are told to do so. It doesn't mean they do not trust their own leadership, it means that even without supervision they understand why and how to proceed in a certain way.

Never Fully Satisfied.

Leaders are not static individuals that settle for their current position within the great scheme of things. Leadership potential can be clearly identified in individuals who are always hungry for more and are not afraid to leave their comfort zone to learn new things. Pay special attention to individuals who are curious and always looking for ways to improve upon processes, but at the same time keeping in mind the mission above all.

Able to Communicate Effectively.Effective communication is one of the most important tools in the kit of a successful leader. People who know how to make their point across, get along with others and understand the importance of feedback are great candidates for leadership positions. No matter where they are, natural leaders are known because they are effective in the way they get their point across no matter who the audience is. They are direct, respectful and easy to talk to. Remember that a very important part of communication is the ability to listen, so they are also great listeners and have an easy way to help others voice their concerns and negotiate when it's time to make decisions.

For more great articles on leadership, check out our entries at David Kiger’s SlideShare today.