How To Choose The Brightest & Best
Choosing the Right Young Leaders for Your Team
A good friend of mine leads a very large organization, which has branches around the world and is a real game-changer in its field. I asked him what he thought was his greatest skill as a leader.
His answer was clear and immediate: 'The ability to identify great young leaders and to keep them on board for long periods of time.'
Your enterprise will only ever be as strong as those young and emerging leaders to whom you entrust its future development. What are the key criteria for identifying emerging leaders?
Here are a few born out of my own (sometimes costly) experience:
Promote DNA, Not Just MBA.
Promoting young leaders purely on the basis of academic qualifications is often a sure road to disaster down the track. You need to ask the question: how will this individual fit within with the culture of our existing team? Will he/she be a team player? Will they not only respect our culture, but commit to sharing and developing it?
The ultimate success of any team will in large part be determined by the strength of its internal culture, its clear sense of identity, its belief in certain norms of behaviour and core values. You need to bring people into your team who will quickly adapt to the dominant culture and add something positive to it.
Self-Assurance Without Self-Aggrandisement.
It's true that the most effective leaders often start out being a little arrogant in their youth, a little too sure of themselves. Over time, much of this arrogance gives way to a more tempered form of self-assurance and an understanding of how to graciously bring others into a vision or process.
However, nothing is more injurious to the healthy culture of a team then bringing on board an individual who believes that he or she is bigger than the enterprise itself.
Contrary to what you may read in some self-help and management books, humility never goes out of style.
True humility is the polar opposite of self-deprecation; in fact, it is the ultimate expression of healthy self-esteem. A humble person recognizes the importance of their own role and responsibility, while constantly seeking to lift the importance of others - a sure sign of inner security. This is a valuable trait in an emerging leader.
Ability to Articulate a Fresh Vision.
Young leaders who have the best potential long-term will show an early ability to articulate vision in a way that inspires their peers.
There is more to this than simply spouting clichés and banality cloaked in hype.
Articulating a vision requires an understanding of the challenges ahead, plus an ability to draw sightlines that connect the overall objective to the work of each individual in the team. A visionary leader can show each team member how their efforts are making a difference.
Communication Skills.
We all recognize that the ability to communicate one-on-one and in larger groups is an essential quality for leaders. The best communication skills, however, are as much the result of innate ability as they are learned principles.
Communications training definitely helps people to lift their leadership game, but there are some who come to the leadership process with a strong, inbuilt and natural sense of the art of communication.
Provided they are prepared to work as hard out of the spotlight as in it, these gifted communicators often make the most inspiring leaders.
An Altruism Attitude.
A young leader with a keen sense of altruism will prove a great addition to any team. You need people who are able to look beyond the interests of their particular task, and even your company, to see the interests of the broader community.
I've often said that one of the most important questions for any corporate leader is: what kind of city would I like to live in 10 years from now -- and what will I do now to set that in motion?
The bottom line is only the bottom line. A successful company will always have a strong commitment to interests outside its own four walls, an involvement in activities that benefit the wider community.
Look for young leaders who've already demonstrated a positive, altruistic mindset. It may show through involvement in a community organisation, a church, or some other activity.
These people have already tapped into one of the great keys to staying motivated: solving problems for others, without looking for a tangible return. At the end of the day, helping people is what your enterprise ought to be about.
A Thirst for Learning.
A narrow worldview means a low level of influence. You need people around you who read often and widely.
They don't necessarily need to be intellectuals -- in fact, in most practical enterprises, being overly academic is something of a disadvantage. But you do need leaders who can bring to a problem a growing store of background knowledge and a willingness to turn their knowledge into practical wisdom.
A thirst for knowledge reflects a thirst for growth, which is a great quality in a leader.
Curiosity.
'The important thing,' said Albert Einstein, 'is never to lose a holy curiosity.'
Curiosity is the hallmark of the creative person in any field of endeavour. Without it, we're content to sit on the shore watching others launch out on voyages of discovery.
Einstein's use of the word 'holy' is instructive. The word means 'set apart, sacred.' Curiosity has a way of setting people apart from their peers and colleagues; it marks them as people who aspire to better themselves.
Activism with Accountability.
Some qualities of leadership are like gold dust, rare and worth digging for. One of those is an ability to take personal responsibility for tasks and decisions, while maintaining a sense of accountability to the wider team.
Lone Rangers may solve problems, but they invariably want to keep the secret of their success to themselves so that there's no benefit to the team's development.
You need can-do people who will bring all of their creativity to bear on the challenge at hand, while willingly sharing the keys to their success with the group as a whole.
Dissent without Disloyalty.
In my conference sessions, I often tell leaders that the person who rocks your boat is the last one you should throw overboard! Dissent is not the same as disloyalty.
I can always spot an insecure leader quickly, on the basis of the people they've chosen to place closest to them. The word "yes" is always easier to take than the alternative, but there are times when "no" is actually more helpful.
You need emerging leaders who will tell you what they really think, even if it is sometimes difficult to hear.
The proviso is that they must have your best interests at heart and those of the enterprise. And they must always have the courage to tell you what they think to your face. Dissenters can be helpful; rumour-mongers and back-biters never are.
Identifying and choosing young leaders is just the start of a much longer process. In fact, if you are going to be a success it is an exercise you will indulge in almost constantly. These principles are always a good place to start.
Copyright Mal Fletcher 2010.
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