Ways to Identify Emerging Leaders.
Even for companies that are not yet experiencing a coming wave of Baby Boomer retirements, putting appropriate thought into succession planning is of importance.
Today, the hunt for talent is hot. The search for a suitable successor is not something to be taken lightly. Considering how difficult it is to find suitable talent in today`s market, it would be extremely disadvantageous to a firm to first wait for a crisis to occur before considering the thought of a successor. The safest and most reasonable course of action would be to put enough resources into the development of workplace talent. Training, mentorship programs, coaching and even a feedback system are things that should be put in place to groom a prospective successor. These should be done at earlier times and is a process that cannot be rushed. On the bright side, the existing leaders tend to make themselves available for various assessments, simulations and tests to determine leadership potential. All these exercises coupled with the personal experiences of the leaders could aid in determining those that are potential leaders. So this article will further discuss some exercises that could aid in the determination and identification of leadership potential in staff. It also discusses how to make this assessment on time.
Showing Personal Interest in Individuals with Leadership Potential within an Organization.
The first clue when assessing someone you believe has leadership potential involves scrutinizing how attuned such an individual is to their personal strengths and weaknesses. These ones should show a continued drive to get better. They should be receptive to feedback programs as well. Most importantly, this individual has to display distinct and unchanging core values.
This particular individual should also possess the ability to properly communicate with others at every level of the organization. They should be able to demonstrate adequate listening skills and be able to show strong human emotion (empathy) when necessary. This particular individual would be interested in carrying everyone along as a team to create a favorable result. This particular character would earn him the backing and respect of all members of the organizational chart.
Last but not least, you should pay careful attention to the individual`s level of understanding. How well does this people understand problems? Does the person develop an appropriate approach to solving this problem? These persons should be bold enough to voice out their creative ideas and confident enough to confront challenges wisely. While perfectly fitting into the dynamics of the group.
Major Indicators of a Potential Talent
Showing your full support for individuals that demonstrate leadership talent is a natural step. But how do you identify such one through their characters? What indicators can we observe?
First, a consistent and outstanding performance generally.
A “burning” desire to acquire more knowledge and practical skills. While seeking out more responsibilities.
An excellent job at supervising in their current department or responsibility.
Should display core essential and unwavering values such as integrity and punctuality.
Should be optimistic.
Should carry a bearing capable of inspiring others.
Above all, should have the desire to lead.
First clue when assessing someone you believe has leadership potential involves scrutinizing how attuned such an individual is to their personal strengths and weaknesses.
The Benefits of Selecting Potential Leaders Early
In 2017, CEO turnovers reached a record level. This shows that the tenure of CEOs are somewhat shorter than they used to be and might keep reducing. No matter how perfect an organization, transition or change in leadership always causes some degree of disruption to organizational activities. When there is an unforeseen need for leaders to turn over, these disruptions, if allowed to persist, could serve as setbacks to the achievement of organizational goals.
This makes the identification of potential leaders at an earlier time, even more pertinent. This would put less pressure on the organization should any emergencies occur. This also gives the organization the ability to organize leadership coaching sessions earlier. These sessions would allow the individual to perform better at their current role, while also preparing them for the potential roles and responsibilities they might receive. Leadership training would allow your candidates to make these leadership skills a vital part of their lives as reflected in their everyday performance. Any decision concerning a potential leader that is made during emergencies is probably extremely flawed.
The acquiring and grooming of talented individuals this year (2019) is expected to be just as difficult as it was in the previous year (2018). If not more difficult. Talent acquisition is on the list of major concerns executives will be having this year, this fact is according to a survey carried out by the Employer Association of America. Matter of fact, this is not the case for this year alone, this problem seems to be able to extend over the duration of the next five years.
This fact simply serves to make the idea of early selection of potential leaders more appealing. Hence, talent identification and leadership coaching programs are currently topping the “to do lists” of various leaders or executives today. The process of identification and grooming of potential leaders can assist in the control of any organizational upheaval due to the leadership crisis in the future. It is a sort of direct investment to make sure that any crisis at all in the future would cause minimal to negligible effect at most.
If you would like to develop leadership effectiveness of emerging leaders in your company, I invite you to learn more about the Intelligent Leadership Coaching program. Recently named one of the top three advanced leadership development programs in the world, it is a 9 to 12 month “immersive” leadership and personal growth journey that unlocks and unleashes a leader’s full potential so they truly become the best leaders and people they can be.
