Gary Hamel’s “Nine Ways to Identify Natural Leaders” provides some insight into the age old question “How do you identify leaders?”

“The need to empower natural leaders isn’t an HR pipedream, it’s a competitive imperative. But before you can empower them, you have to find them. In most companies, the formal hierarchy is a matter of public record—it’s easy to discover who’s in charge of what. By contrast, natural leaders don’t appear on any organization chart. To hunt them down, you need to know . . .

• Whose advice is sought most often on any particular topic?
• Who responds most promptly to requests from peers?
• Whose responses are judged most helpful?
• Who is most likely to reach across organizational boundaries to aid a colleague?
• Whose opinions are most valued, internally and externally?
• Who gets the most kudos from customers?
• Who’s the most densely connected to other employees?
• Who’s generating the most buzz outside the company?
• Who consistently demonstrates real thought leadership?
• Who seems truly critical to key decisions?”

This is a great list to use in your leadership search efforts. Searching and selecting natural leadership is of critical importance in today’s competitive environment. Equally important is the need to create environments in which leadership thrives. Gary Hamel goes on to note that…

“One thing’s certain, though: we can’t invent Management 2.0 without inventing some new ways for people to accumulate and exercise authority. In the tempestuous seas of today’s creative economy, top-down leadership structures are fast becoming a liability. We need is a new currency of power—one based not on titles, but on every individual’s capacity to lead, every day….

“So here are some questions to ponder: How would you find the natural leaders in your company? And once found, how would you help them expand their influence? Can you imagine other alternatives to traditional power structures? If so, what might they be?”

Related posts:

1. Seven ways inspiring leaders communicate
2. Abraham Maslow’s 8 Ways to Self-Actualize
3. 10 Easy Ways to Know You’re Not a Leader

Skip from Be Excellent™ posted a list of eleven criteria for spotting future leaders, from Ram Charan’s book Know-How, they are:

1. They consistently deliver ambitious results.
2. They continuously demonstrate growth, adaptability, and learning better and faster than their excellently performing peers.
3. They seize the opportunity for challenging, bigger assignments, thereby expanding capability and capacity and improving judgment.
4. They have the ability to think through the business and take leaps of imagination to grow the business.
5. They are driven to take things to the next level.
6. Their powers of observation are very acute, forming judgments of people by focusing on their decisions, behaviors, and actions, rather than relying on initial reactions and gut instincts; they can mentally detect and construct the “DNA” of a person.
7. They come to the point succinctly, are clear thinkers, and have the courage to state a point-of-view even though listeners may react adversely.
8. They ask incisive questions that open minds and incite the imagination.
9. They perceptively judge their own direct reports, have the courage to give them honest feedback so the direct reports grow; they dig into cause and effect if a direct report is failing.
10. They know the non-negotiable criteria of the job of heir direct reports and match the job with the person; of there is a mismatch they deal with it promptly.
11. They are able to spot talent and see the “God’s gift” of other individuals.

Finding and developing future leaders is the responsibility of all practicing leaders. Considering the importance of developing future leaders to the success of our organisations we need to become better as spotting talented future leaders, and this list is a great starting point.

Related posts:

1. How to Develop Future Leaders
2. Leaders are NOT parents!