Leadership is the cornerstone of every successful endeavor, so it is important to be able to recognize the assets available already within the company and make the best use of them by properly nourishing existing leadership skills and thus strengthening the company’s own foundations.

1. How To Recognize Great Leadership
Within Your Organization
By David KigerCourtesy of Guillaume DELEBARRE
(Guigui-Lille) at Flickr.com

2. Leadership can be found everywhere and in many forms, as there
isn’t a specific type of leader but instead many ways in which
amazing leadership potential can be identified. Recognizing the
natural leaders within your company, as well as those people
who just need a small nudge in the right direction in order to be
in charge effectively, is greatly beneficial for the future of the
organization. Leadership is the cornerstone of every successful
endeavor, so it is important to be able to recognize the assets
available already within the company and make the best use of
them by properly nourishing existing leadership skills and thus
strengthening the company’s own foundations.
As we have mentioned before, leadership cannot be measured
with a single yardstick, so identifying potential leaders is
something that you can base more on certain attitudes that can
be observed in regular everyday situations around the workplace.

3. Job Performance
One of the best ways to begin identifying and measuring
leadership capacity is taking a look at an employee’s
performance. People who excel at their job are great
individuals to become role models for the rest of your
employees. While job performance is very far from being the
only indicator of leadership potential, it is a great place to start
your evaluation. Leaders are supposed to understand the
intricacies of the job at all its levels in order to properly guide
team members. More often than not, people complain that
their managers have very little understanding or poor skills on
the same activities they are supposed to be supervising.

4. Willingness To Help Others And Make Sacrifices.
Great leaders let their action speak for themselves instead of
constantly talking out loud about their own accomplishment.
People who care about others and find purpose in helping
their co-workers learn and excel, make great leaders because
they understand the importance of teamwork and how the
organization is just as strong as their weakest link. People are
inspired to follow those who are willing to make sacrifices for
what is best for the team and not their own personal
achievement. A leader cares for the wellbeing of those who
follow them and treat them with respect. These attributes can
be easily identified from early on when you examine the way
your team members work and interact with each other.

5. Charismatic Personality.
Effective leaders are known for their charisma and the way
they are able to empathize with those around them. Charisma
goes beyond initial impressions of what we may judge as being
“leadership material queues”, charisma runs a lot deeper and
it can be witnessed by observing employees that are confident
in their own value and at the same time understand how to
relate to those around them even they are different from
themselves. Great leaders have the ability to motivate those
around them to outperform their own expectations and to
continue to achieve higher ideals and pursue the goals of the
organization.

6. Aligned with the Company’s Goals.
When you are looking for a leader, you are looking for a
person that goes way beyond understanding the company’s
policies and knows the employee handbook from cover to
cover. You want a certain type of intelligence that aligns with
the purpose of the company and understand that those goals
are the driving force of the business. Leaders understand why
things are done the way they are instead of simply doing them
because they are told to do so. It doesn't mean they do not
trust their own leadership, it means that even without
supervision they understand why and how to proceed in a
certain way.

7. Never Fully Satisfied.
Leaders are not static individuals that settle for their current
position within the great scheme of things. Leadership
potential can be clearly identified in individuals who are
always hungry for more and are not afraid to leave their
comfort zone to learn new things. Pay special attention to
individuals who are curious and always looking for ways to
improve upon processes, but at the same time keeping in
mind the mission above all.

8. Able to Communicate Effectively.
Effective communication is one of the most important tools in
the kit of a successful leader. People who know how to make
their point across, get along with others and understand the
importance of feedback are great candidates for leadership
positions. No matter where they are, natural leaders are
known because they are effective in the way they get their
point across no matter who the audience is. They are direct,
respectful and easy to talk to. Remember that a very
important part of communication is the ability to listen, so
they are also great listeners and have an easy way to help
others voice their concerns and negotiate when it's time to
make decisions.
For more great articles on leadership, check out our entries at
David Kiger’s SlideShare today.