The Top Five Things to Look for in Potential Leaders
Character and skill are essential for remarkable success, but not enough. Successful leaders develop others.
But who?
The top 5 things to look for in potential leaders:
#1. Stubbornness. Headstrong people may be hard to convince, but once you convince them, they’re stubborn in a good way.
- Convince headstrong people that you’re helping them get where they want to go.
- Gain the respect of stubborn people by standing up to them. Be respectful, but not a pushover.
#2. Ego. The desire for greatness is healthy when focused on service. The more you serve, the more you enhance your worth. Healthy ego wants to make a difference. Look for people who want to matter.
Aspiration is a comfortable word for ego.
How would they make the world better if given the opportunity?
#3. Frustration. The desire to change things often begins with frustration. Discontent expresses itself as aggravation. I’m not suggesting that you tolerate abuse.
Look for people with some heat in their hearts.
#4. Teachability.
Know-it-alls have nowhere to go.
How do they take correction?
- What are they currently learning?
- What are they reading?
- Who have they learned from in the past?
- How have they changed their thinking?
- What sparks their curiosity?
- How many questions do they ask?
#5. Busyness. If they aren’t busy now, you’ll end up pushing them later.
Why develop leaders:
Successful leaders understand the power of ‘with’.
Self-development is the first development. But don’t shackle yourself by leading alone. Develop the people around you.
If you’re doing leadership alone, you aren’t doing it right.
What qualities do you want in potential leaders?
Which of the five qualities listed above seem most important? Why?
Good morning, Dan,
“Successful leaders understand the power of ‘with’.” This is the sentence I am going to carry forward as it really hit home with me. Thank you!
Thanks Lisa. It’s so easy to hunker down and work alone. But it’s short-sighted. Best for the journey.
Wow. This is one I feel I have to stop every line, because it brings so much to mind. This, for me at least, is a super dense post, lots of re-reading. Thanks!
Thanks Glen. (Nice hat in your profile pic)…There’s lots of life behind this one. Glad to give you something to think about.
It’s interesting how many of these traits are considered negative and would probably be to a weak boss, but in reality, these traits are quite powerful! Harnessing energy is easier than trying to make energy where none exists.
Thanks Daniel. It seems like strengths have a dark side. We often see the darkness and miss the strength. When that happens, we overlook some people who could become successful leaders. I’ve see people emerge from the fringes.
Franklin D. Roosevelt once said, “It is a terrible thing to look over your shoulder when you are trying to lead — and find no one there.” So … I love that Dan Rockwell said “Successful leaders understand the power of ‘with’ and “How would they make the world better if given the opportunity?”
You can’t lead if nobody follows. Good stuff. Thanks!
I agree and like the comment that “know-it-all” have nowhere to go. If they think they know everything then they will be close minded and not open to learning from others or taking any type of direction. One must be open to learning continuously. You can never know everything.
“Don’t shackle yourself by leading alone.”
Gah I love that! When you put it in that context it brings so much clarity. By attempting to lead alone not only do we impede our own progress, we stifle our the team’s growth.
Your list is MONEY! The only thing I would add is a sevant’s heart. No matter if it’s the CEO or the new guy’s first day on the job – a heart to serve is invaluable!
This is a very good list. I like it. All these qualities are core to a leadership mindset. Frustration surprised me (in a good way) and busyness brought up a few of my own struggles.
I would add ‘being in control of yourself’ and ‘patience’.
Nice job!
Several of the questions listed under #4 have been interview questions I use to select team members. As I’ve explored the world of career change, it is interesting how rare it is to find recruiters looking for these characteristics or even how they interpret these as “bad” in an applicant.
I liked this post a lot Dan. Simplistic and true.
Maybe I liked it so much because I recognized myself on every point? Hmm… 🙂
It’s hard for me to say one of the traits from the list is better than another. I know if the frustrated person is in your leadership pipeline, it takes humility on your part to say something might be wrong in my leadership that is causing frustration for this person. We then have to get out of the way as the frustrated person tries to do what we couldn’t. Humility is hard for driven leaders, but it is essential. You might add humility next to ego.
I loved the list though. Most of those qualities people shy away from because of the aforementioned quality of humility that is lacking. Thank you for being honest with us.