In the fast-paced and ever-changing business world, identifying future leaders is key for any company. But how do you know who to look for? Here are three ways to help identify future leaders.
Everyone needs good leaders, but it can be hard to pinpoint those with the potential for success when there are so many others clamouring for attention. While it's good to have some youthful optimism and expect great things from everyone, it's important not to get too caught up in the hype of the moment.
To find out more about someone's potential, you need to look beyond their current achievements and delve a little deeper. It is certainly possible for someone with a lack of experience or success in one area of their life to be destined for greatness elsewhere, but identifying them as such is an ongoing process.
Now that's not to say that you can't take the word of someone else on faith – after all, what would we be if we didn't have trust? But ultimately whether or not you accept another person's judgment will depend on your own perception of events. You need to be willing to subject every person you meet to a thorough and objective evaluation.
Regard the world as it is and make it what it was not.
The first thing to do when you're looking at someone is assess the events they've experienced in their life so far, including those that haven't occurred yet. Everyone has experienced success, failure or even mediocrity at some point in their lives, but past events are only a guide for future ones. The value of somebody's potential isn't determined by how much they have achieved but by how well they can adapt to new challenges as they arise. Anybody can change the course of their life, just as they can alter the course of a football match.
Although we may look to the past in order to predict what will happen next, it's important to focus on the future too. The way someone manages their career from now will depend on their ability to see what lies ahead – especially when it comes to tackling new challenges that lie ahead for them. There is no time limit in life and nobody knows for sure what will happen in the future or when they'll reach some particular milestone or suddenly find themselves with a sudden surge of luck.
It is vital for any leader then, both past and present, to have an open-minded approach and be prepared for the unexpected. It isn't enough to rely on a single perspective in this respect and it's important not to be reluctant to adapt your view of someone's abilities. Someone with all the heaps of success in the world might still be falling short of true potential if they can't deal with the set-backs that inevitably come their way.
If you want to find out how you're going, check your eyes by looking at what you can see.
Once we've established how someone has fared up until now, it's time to take a look at where they might be headed next – especially when they're on their own path through life. It's great to have some experience under your belt, but where you are now is only part of the story. The steps that somebody is taking now will determine where they'll be in the future because that's a direct representation of their decision-making.
In order to know where someone is heading, you need to look at what they're choosing to do with their time. That could mean looking at the activities they're spending time on, or even those that they're not getting around to. We can all tell when we're wasting our time – we just don't always do anything about it. We all have our priorities, but what matters is whether those priorities are realistic and can help us take on new challenges when necessary.
Post a Comment