Leadership is a skill that can be developed. At the same time, leadership attributes can be spotted within your team as well. You need to ensure they utilize their leadership qualities to reach maximum heights to turn them into successful leaders. Nurturing future leadership talent is a worthwhile investment to the company. For it does not limit to groom future leaders alone, but in a way you are also encouraging others to be proactive and take greater initiative in their role.
Spotting the Lead of the Pack
People can display leadership potential in a variety of ways, so it's important to learn how to spot it in different kinds of people.
An Outstanding Communicator
Having excellent communication skills is what makes a special candidate stand out among his team members. While attempting to express expectations of each team member, that individual must have a clear vision for projects, goals and daily operations. An individual who has the potential to be a leader, will display their ability to both articulate and be an attentive listener. That makes him or her an outstanding communicator, as they can understand that communication happens two ways and that they must welcome others’ say in it. It involves being mindful of people’s opinions and encouraging an honest discussion by embracing constructive criticism. This makes way for cohesiveness and trust to thrive in an organization.
Ethics and Professionalism as a Part of their Profile
A potential leader will always have ethics and professionalism naturally woven as a part of their personality. Taking responsibility for their actions, owning up to their mistakes and treating their co-workers equally and empathetically makes this particular individual a good team player. Oftentimes they are known to be highly self-aware, putting their soft skills to the best in interacting with others in a healthy manner.
A Creative Problem Solver
During a problem or challenging situation, the one who comes up with out-of-box solutions will prove to be the golden egg among the rest. These individuals will approach the problem in a way you didn’t think it could be dealt with. Additionally, they are said to maintain composure and are adaptive to the people around. Other attributes namely being well-organized, productive and skilled at managing their time makes a part of their personality as well. They stand resilient during tough times. Even the work they submit tends to be of high caliber while managing overwhelming tasks all at once. Besides, they tend to look at failure in a positive light by taking it as an opportunity to learn. This is what makes them have more ease in being responsible and making necessary changes. They are able to prioritize progress and keep perspective even in the face of chaos.
High in Emotional Intelligence
Emotional intelligence allows the potential individual to manage and motivate their team. This ability can be spotted by observing who is more good at resolving conflicts and who serves as a mediator. The team member who is ready to give credit to their peers and even compliment them or showering them with words of support will show that they will be excellent leaders, increasing productivity in the workplace. You can conduct interviews to find out who shines in this department.
Before we get to the grooming future leaders part, CEO Insights India magazine, from its interactions, shares an important point from the Blends & Dome’s CEO, Avirup Chandra who says, “I think there are so many talents moving forward to leadership roles, but what I really feel they need to know is, learn the basics”.
From his experience, Chandra says that he has observed a lot of leaders from B-Schools are given higher designations with larger accountability, yet somewhere they lose out on the basics. So learning the basics is something that I would really like to tell them. Have enough confidence in understanding the basics. Be transparent, coz i see integrity and transparency as the most important, vulnerable kind of a word, where people really want to be transparent, want to have integrity but somewhere many people lose it on the way to the top, because that’s very important”.
“Keep your integrity in place, learn the basics and be transparent”.
How to Groom that Potential Individual into a Leader
Preparing for the next successor in line is a natural occurrence in an organization as well. Although experience is considered mostly, at times younger generations are also made part of leadership roles to prevent the risk of becoming obsolete or less competitive. Also, these kinds of leaders make room for more diverse viewpoints enhancing strategic planning and decision making. Therefore, existing leaders need to consciously groom the next line of successors to pass the reigns.
Conducting Systematic Programs
Companies can create programs that systematically identify and develop young leaders. These programs must include project management and soft skill development, involvement in cross-fuctional or divisional tasks, networking opportunities and challenging tasks.
Making them Temporary Leaders
Beyond one’s primary functional responsibilities, high-profile, challenging projects and initiatives make up for a vital leadership experience. Organizations can do this by offering talent short-term or temporary acting positions that is, giving them the chance to take the lead in crisis scenarios. Experiences like these enable individuals to get exposed to what it means to battle in the frontlines.
This can be done by providing internal migration across business units or functions and even other locations around the world at times. Work rotations give leaders in today’s business organizations that operate internationally in matrix arrangements exposure to development to improve creating strategic networks and foster cultural awareness.
Assigning Supervisors
Providing aid to each high-potential individual through two executive mentors, including one high-level sponsor enables vital developmental chances and helps direct career goals and advancement. Also, checking in on them every now and then assures they get both political and psychosocial support during the time of their leadership development. These connections help sustain the outstanding young talent.
Provide Structured Feedback
Structured feedback events, multi-rater surveys, and assessment centres are essential components of development programs that help measure progress, facilitate role adaptability, and pinpoint skill gaps. When jobs become available or new ones are created based on performance differences, organizations need to move quickly to promote qualified people into strategic director-level responsibilities. Acknowledging excellence keeps workers motivated.