Growing leaders is something that all companies should focus on to grow and prosper. It is a process that never ends. The problem is many companies have success growing their leaders, so they stop as if the process has succeeded and it’s done. The truth is, as a company, you’re either growing or dying because good leadership skills are not innate; they are built.
Growing leaders can be molded into top-level managers and much more. It can be difficult to spot those with excellent leadership skills at an initial stage, but if you identify them, the chances are that your business can do wonders with their expertise.
Therefore, it is beneficial to identify and nourish your employees’ leadership skills because they could be future managers of your organization. They could turn a potential client into an existing client and help encourage peers and employees.
Let’s explore those different skills to grow leaders at your company and take your organization to a high level of success.
1. High Level of Engagement
A team member with insightful suggestions and asking the right questions may have leadership qualities as well. Individuals who take an interest in other job roles and departments of the company are born leaders because they can appreciate the bigger picture and where they fit in.
Moreover, leaders engage more with other people than they do with screens. If they are good at talking with the team members instead of staring at their cell phones, they are the leaders you need.
2. Accept Failure
Great leaders identify and accept failure. They accept that failure is a part of life and they can do better in the future. They don’t allow failures to pull them or their coworkers down. They motivate themselves and others to work better to avoid future failures.
For them, failures are a lesson to push forward, whether the failure is theirs or someone else’s. If they blame the failure on someone else, they are not going to be a good leader.
3. Awesome Communication Skills
Leaders need awesome communication skills. Introverts or extroverts need the skills to communicate in various circumstances and with varied groups of people. Moreover, those who can understandably share their ideas and thoughts are the winners. Keep in mind that it is not about how loud they speak or how much they speak; they are about what they choose to talk about.
The quality is what matters. Blabbering words that make no sense cannot be a good leadership quality. If they’re thoughtful, articulate, and choose their words carefully, they are future leaders.
Another thing to see is if they are good listeners. For someone to be a great communicator, active listening is the most critical skill. Keep an eye on those who think harder before concluding and spend more time listening than talking. No one wants a leader who bypasses others’ thoughts and ideas in their favor.
If you don’t understand what the other person has to say, how can you be a great communicator and a great leader?
4. Empathetic
Empathy is a crucial skill in creating a comfortable work environment. Gone are the days when management used to shout and yell at each other, which is no longer acceptable.
Great leaders check in on their teammates and understand their situation and how it is affecting them. They know people are no robots and that they have emotions. Great leaders identify and work with their coworkers likewise. Empathy is a strong signal of excellent leadership quality. Keep a tab on the individual who shows it.
5. Accountable
A growing leader is someone who takes accountability for their doings. They are typically comfortable taking more opportunities, and they have high acceptance if things go wrong. Accountability is easier to identify in top-level management. The higher one goes on the corporate ladder, the more responsibility. A famous Spiderman dialogue— “With great power, comes great responsibility.”
One way to evaluate the prospective leadership qualities of an employee is by delegating them to a project. Ask them to run the project, and you can assess them better. The more comfortable they are with responsibility and accountability, the more you will know if they can make great leaders.
6. Growth-Focused
Growing leaders are those who strive for more. Not all employees are growth-minded. Some are happy in the same position for a longer duration. Growing leaders crave more. They want to push further and flourish in their career. They are not afraid to try something new and not even to do it.
7. Inspirational
Extraordinary leaders are those who inspire. They inspire others to try something different and to grow for the better. They are those who take charge and create a decision tree when a project needs resolution. They aren’t afraid of taking on challenging tasks, which is how they motivate a collaborative team. An inspirational persona can eventually become a great leader.
8. Risk-Taker
Growing leaders are risk-takers as well. They see a challenge as an opportunity to show their skills but not as an obstacle. They find difficult tasks more creative. They like going out of their comfort zone to achieve higher results and better goals.
Not all individuals are okay with taking risks because they have a fear of uncertainty. But it should be noted that higher risks yield higher returns.
9. Team Player
A great leader knows that an organization is run by a team effort and not by a single person. They strive to work together to achieve one goal as a team while continually improving others. Gossiping and scapegoating is not what a great leader looks like.
10. Learning Never Ceases
Growing leaders know that learning never ends. They know that they will always have flaws to work on. They don’t expect themselves nor others to be perfect and are open-minded to career development opportunities.
You can identify someone by knowing that they continue trying to improve themselves and have great potential in the future.
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How Are You Growing Leaders?
A great leader loves to work with growing leaders. With the skills mentioned above, it cannot be that difficult to know if you have a potential leader at your workplace. Discovering a great leader at an initial stage will be fruitful for your company’s future.
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