What abilities predict success in developing future leaders?
Senior leaders need to identify future potential leaders whom will be ‘chosen’ to receive leadership development resources and efforts. These resources and efforts can be very expensive, so candidates need to be carefully selected. What abilities or skills should the senior leader look for in candidates to successfully develop them into the team’s bench strength and avoid expending resources on those who are unlikely to develop into good leaders?
In the 19th century, this question would have been somewhat moot, as the prevailing theory was that some people are born with the key ingredients to be leaders. This was known as the ‘The Great Man Theory.’ It predicated that for certain men, leadership qualities would magically appear at the right moment of need and circumstance – and the world would immediately recognize their leadership. I guess women were invisible back then or it would have been named ‘The Great Person Theory.’
Fortunately, things have changed a little since then! It seems that the prevailing academic theory today regarding inheriting needed leadership skills still proposes that some leadership abilities are inherited. To back this up, proponents cite sociological research involving twins, and research into fish behavior. They claim that these studies provide the evidence that between 20 – 30% of leadership ability is related to genetic components.
I really am not sure that any of the studies really convince me of a link between genetics and great leadership.
What I can be convinced of though, is that perhaps certain inherited abilities or traits make people more likely to pursue leadership career options. That seems likely. Or perhaps certain physical traits, combined with sociological preferences of the day, make it more likely people will be seen as leaders, encouraged to become leaders, and thereby be given more opportunities to lead. That seems probable from all we know about unconscious bias.
I’ve spent about 25 years, leading teams, large and small. Doing so successfully has required me to be able to ‘spot’ high potential employees and then find ways to develop them into leaders. I’ve learned enough about my own unconscious bias’s along the way, that I’m probably better now than I was early in my career, at ignoring inherited physical attributes and focusing on certain key skills.
My experience has taught me that if I can identify leadership candidates with four key abilities intact as raw material, they stand a reasonable chance of success to develop into good leaders. Are these abilities inherited, as the twins and fish researchers would like us to believe, or are they learned, perhaps at a formative age, I don’t really know – but in my experience, they are needed! Without these four abilities, I’ve not seen a candidate successfully develop into a leader. So, what are these abilities that I’ve identified through my own observations?
Desire, or willingness to lead. This is self-explanatory. If someone doesn’t want to be a leader, they will not succeed. Leadership is difficult. Long hours and intensely painful decisions are required. A leader will at times be deeply unpopular. Most people will shy away from this type of conflict. Those who will succeed, are those that have the desire to lead – not for power, fame, or financial gain – but for helping individuals or groups succeed.
Self-Awareness and Humility, such that an individual can be coached and taught to address gaps in their skills, perceptions, and thought processes. Humility might also be called ‘quiet confidence’ as one needs to be essentially self-confident in order to truly hear constructive criticism as being constructive. If someone isn’t coachable, they will not adapt fast enough to be a successful leader. An obvious place to spot this humility is an individual’s ability to take accountability and say ‘I’m sorry’ when appropriate. Another is to see if they act on simple constructive criticism – or if they simply ignore advice and blame others for their own ‘misfortune.’
Ability to demonstrate sincere empathy. Leaders must inspire high levels of trust and predictability. In this way, they empower people to take action and multiply the effectiveness of their team. Empathy, or the ability to show that they can truly imagine themselves in their team-members’ shoes, is required to build trust.
Resilience to keep trying when one gets knocked down. This resilience goes hand-in-hand with the humility to take accountability as needed, and then adapt and try again. We learn far more from our failures than our successes – although both are important. Resilience amounts to having the perseverance to succeed!
If a candidate possesses these four key abilities, even at a rudimentary level, in my experience, they can be taught pretty much anything else!
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