6 Skills That All Future Leaders Demonstrate at the Workplace

Supporting Contributor Post

If you run your own business, one of the biggest challenges you may be facing is finding talented people who can work for you. When you’re looking to hire or recruit workers for your team, it’s best to seek individuals who have the potential to be leaders. Individuals who display certain traits may be more likely to find success in your organization and become effective leaders some day. Here are six important skills that future leaders may demonstrate.

1. Interpersonal Skills

One good sign that lets you know someone may turn into a leader is if he or she has top interpersonal skills. If a staff member is able to work well with others, then that is a great indication of future potential as a supervisor. Employees who often get into disagreements with others or aren’t good at collaborating may not have the ability to be part of a team. Workers who work well on teams may be able to lead them one day.

2. Communication Ability

Another factor to consider when evaluating your employees’ future potential is their ability to communicate. Don’t just take their speaking ability into consideration. Make sure their writing skills are up to speed as well. Being able to communicate, both verbally and in writing, can help a leader get a strong message across to his or her team members.

3. Intuition and Insight

It’s also important for potential future supervisors within your organization to have intuition about the business or insight within the industry. Some people have a knack for knowing how things are going to go in the near future. If your employee seems to always have a great sense of instinct in the work, that may be a signal that he or she is ready to lead. Intuition is something that comes from within and can’t necessarily be taught. Insight, however, can come along with experience in the industry.

4. Strength in Making Decisions

Being an effective leader means that the right decisions must be made as well. If you have an employee who consistently makes great decisions, you should consider pushing him or her into a leadership role or to take on more responsibilities. A good leader can make decisions without thinking about it for too long, and he or she can use logic and the facts to get there. If you work with people who are indecisive or who make decisions that never pay off, avoid promoting these types of workers to manage large projects or teams.

5. Professional Development Commitment

Workers who strive to advance in their career also share another common trait, a commitment to furthering their skills. If you have employees who take advantage of professional development opportunities, these are the people to watch for future advancement potential. Employees who have leadership potential may also work toward advanced degrees, such as the USC MCM program, the Master of Communication Management. Workers who seek additional knowledge and skills in the industry are readying themselves for leadership.

6. Focus on Self-Direction

Finally, when evaluating your staff for leadership potential, focus on employees who can work well under limited direction from superiors. Those who do their best work without much supervision are the ones who could potentially be in charge of bigger parts of your organization. You should aim to hire employees who can take initiative and who are self-directed and motivated when recruiting new talent. That way, the transition to a role in management will be much smoother and natural for the staff member.

Getting the right kind of people to help you lead your company to success can be tricky. If you invest in smart hiring practices and carefully assess your potential employees, you could gain a workforce that has strong potential to take on more responsibility within your company.