Building your company involves a cycle of recruiting talent, hiring superior candidates, and nurturing employees with demonstrated leadership skills. But what skills should you be looking for? Here are nine traits that indicate the capacity to lead.
Effective Communication
Leaders must be good communicators. They will be called on to handle one-on-one conversations, team meetings and group presentations. Look for employees who show the ability to get a clear message across both verbally and in writing.
Organizational Skills
Organizing business operations means keeping everyone at a business on the same page when it comes to calendars, appointments and processes. Someone with a high level of organizational skills can handle all these tasks as well as filing, inventorying supplies and other duties – all at the same time.
Team-Building Talent
Your business needs employees who are good teammates, and leaders need to be able to build teams that work well together. Find employees who thrive at collaboration and support each other when responding to a deadline or a demanding client. Also, look for evidence they handle conflict by working through disagreements with respect and kindness while keeping the team’s goals front and center.
A Desire to Grow
Very few employees want to stay in the same role forever. Rather, they seek out paths to advancement in their career. Top performers in particular value the opportunity to learn and grow. Look for employees who show a keen interest in professional development and have participated regularly in training and development opportunities.
Adaptability
Leaders often have to stop on a dime and pivot toward a completely unrelated project. Identify employees who’ve demonstrated the ability both to react and adapt with ease as well as get back on track once they switch back.
Strategic Thinking
Being an effective leader means being a problem solver. Whether they’re trying to improve sales or better organize a work area, employees with critical thinking skills can identify problems, brainstorm solutions, and execute a plan for overcoming challenges – all of which indicate leadership potential.
Accountability
Good leaders build in benchmarks that can keep their teams on track to reach their goals. They also own their mistakes and learn from them. Look for employees who’ve handled setbacks well and who have shown the ability to course-correct to achieve better results.
Get Help Finding Future Leaders
While you’re identifying potential leaders among your current employees, you should also work to acquire new talent with leadership potential. Arrow Staffing Services can help. We provide staffing solutions for employers in Riverside and San Bernadino county, and we’d love to work with you. Learn more here.
