3 Steps To Identify The Natural Leaders In Your Team

Not every leader in the workplace has the title of manager or director. Within the population of your respective teams, some individuals have more than subject matter expertise. They have a natural leadership ability that encourages you and others to follow them. Only 10% of people within a company are born leaders. They might not even know they have that capability. They simply do the best they can to complete tasks on time.

If you’re in management and looking for these natural leaders, here are three things to identify them.

They Come Up With Solutions, Not Excuses

Let’s say you run a business that wants to be the best moving company in Boston. You want to be at the level of Move-and-Care in the way you handle jobs of any size. In one of these situations, your team runs into a problem getting large pieces of furniture up narrow staircases.

A natural leader won’t tell you and the customer it can’t be done. They’ll look over the environment and find a way to get the pieces to a residence. If one method doesn’t work, they’ll look for another until the right solution makes an appearance.

There’s always a way to make things happen with a natural leader. For the most part, the word isn’t in their vocabulary. They don’t do this to impress anyone, including themselves. They do it because it’s the right thing.

They Have Passion For Everything

Not every assignment is exciting. There are plenty of tasks that, no matter which way management tries to put it, are uninteresting or not really in the team’s wheelhouse. Nevertheless, the project needs to get done. Someone who isn’t a natural leader will probably do the minimum to accomplish the tasks. The work won’t be wrong or great. It’ll only be there.

A natural leader will transform the need to do the work into a desire. From there, they’ll ignite a passion for others to perform the best they can. In turn, persistence will be established that pushes the project through with more significant results than management predicted.

It doesn’t matter what the task is for a natural leader. They’ll consider it a challenge and encourage their teammates to believe the same thing. Thus, everyone will have the same passion for doing the best possible job.

They Don’t Do Things For Glory

Unfortunately, some managers see their title as a stepping stone for more incredible things. So, they do what they can to make others notice the job they do, even if it’s done at the expense of those under them.

In many scenarios, this type of manager takes an authoritarian bent on how they lead. It’s by what they demand others to do instead of by example. The result is an inefficient environment and a team that doesn’t retain good workers.

A natural leader doesn’t care for this glory. What drives them is the goal to do things the right way the first time. They don’t tell others what to do while they sit at their desk, ignoring any questions or suggestions. A natural leader knows they’re as good as the people under them.

Therefore, they make sure everyone on the team is involved. A natural leader examines all suggestions to come up with the right solution when a problem arises. They roll up their figurative and literal sleeves to work with the team if something comes up that seems impossible to resolve. Furthermore, they aren’t afraid to let their managers know about these issues and where things stand with the project.

These are only a few steps you should utilize to identify the natural leaders in your team. The most genuine way to know who they are is to speak with the people that work with them and the individuals themselves. Ask them about upcoming projects and how they would resolve the issues you and others encountered.

Don’t wait until the last minute to put together all of this evidence. Since natural leaders are so rare, there are other companies on the lookout for them. Thus, if one of your people does an exemplary job on a client’s project, they might lure that work to their team. You want to do everything possible to keep their talent and natural skills.