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Hiring for a leadership position can be much easier with an internal candidate pool. That's why it's so important for leaders and HR departments to learn how to spot the seeds of leadership when someone is hired at a lower-level position so they can focus on developing that person's skills for the future.
Below, 20 Forbes Human Resources Council members share the qualities that can indicate strong leadership potential in the early stages of someone's career. Read on to learn how to nurture your organization's budding leaders and build a robust internal pipeline for your future needs.
1. Curiosity
Look for talent eager to learn. Curiosity is an essential leadership competency, and unlike technical skills, is a more innate quality. Many people change focus areas during their careers, so exposing employees early on to multiple disciplines is key. Companies have cut back on development programs but now is the time to lean in to identify and develop talent who are driven to learn. - Sherika Ekpo, Shaw Ekpo Enterprises (SEE)
2. Early Adopters
Action-oriented observation: Watch for initiative beyond job descriptions. Identify early adopters tackling challenges, seeking feedback and demonstrating ownership. Potential-focused assessment: Assign cross-functional, high-visibility projects early on. Observe collaboration, problem-solving and communication skills under pressure. Early exposure cultivates and identifies leadership potential. - Subhash Chandar, Laminaar Aviation Infotech Group
3. Natural Leaders
Leaders and those with high leadership potential share a number of key traits including focusing on solutions not problems, supporting their colleagues, listening before they speak, taking the initiative to learn new skills and being humble. They lead others naturally. Two ways to develop early career leaders are to identify projects they can lead and employees they can mentor or train. - Hazel Kassu, Sudduth Search
4. Resilience And A Growth Mindset
I always look for two qualities that typically go hand-in-hand: resilience and a growth mindset. Look for those who demonstrate the ability to bounce back from setbacks and challenges and observe how they handle adversity. Good leaders embrace challenges as opportunities to learn and improve. They are also open to feedback and actively seek ways to expand their skills. - Tia Smith, Cognizant
5. Courage, Vulnerability And Determination
To identify and develop early-stage leaders, look for courage, vulnerability and determination in their character. These traits are key indicators of leadership potential. Once identified, nurturing these qualities with targeted leadership training is essential for their development. - Elisabetta Bartoloni, Heidrick & Struggles
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6. Acting As A Mentor Or Coach
Look for how they embody leadership skills within their own teams. Do they work well with others, embody emotional intelligence and naturally fall into a mentorship or coaching role when collaborating with others? Curiosity is also an undervalued competency that can easily be seen in the early stages of one's employment. - Halai Shukran, Pluribus Digital
7. Eagerness
First, find those eager to learn. Are they interested in career growth? Do they have a positive attitude? Are they willing to take on stretch assignments? These are indicators of a successful leader. In the early stages of employment, start training them using HR tech with learning software. This provides proactive, measurable and engaging assignments and an analysis of their leadership journey. - Jennifer Kraszewski, Paycom
8. Self-Starters And Doers
A few early signs of a strong leader are individuals who are self-starters and doers, always achieving results, and most importantly, they never ask whether it is in their job description. They relentlessly strive for the good of the company and to achieve strong results, and never hesitate to roll up their sleeves and put in the hours. - Amee Parekh, Stello Technologies
9. Accomplishing New Responsibilities
One way to identify and develop leaders is to give them more responsibility and wait for them to accomplish it in style. Their street-smartness, team-handling skills and ownership of the task will make them identifiable to the crowd. - Adithyan RK, Hyring
10. Ability To Work With People
The ability to work with people is what differentiates a manager from a leader. A leader always works with and through the team and delivers results and objectives leveraging the best potential of their team. The leader inspires individuals, challenges them to go above and beyond and has their back at all times. - Hitashi Malik, Rasan
11. Strong Emotional Intelligence
Look for employees with high emotional intelligence, not just technical work skills for the role they are doing. Individuals with strong emotional intelligence are able to build lasting relationships and better navigate challenges and problems. They also typically actively seek out opportunities for self-development, all of which are key factors for future leadership success. - Casey Huebsch, South End Partners
12. The Right Combination Of Hard Skills And Soft Skills
Employers should first identify hard skills. Employees who demonstrate the knowledge and experience to excel at their individual roles can help others achieve the same results. Next, employers should evaluate soft skills. A good leader must be able to communicate well, solve problems and lead with empathy. Future leaders demonstrate a combination of hard and soft skills early on in their work. - John Feldmann, Insperity
13. A Desire To Learn
People should be given the chance to grow into leaders over time, especially young professionals. That said, a new hire who takes the initiative to learn new skills, and to ask for additional responsibilities, is showing early signs of leadership. Give promising new hires the chance to prove themselves and join a leadership development program if possible. - Niki Jorgensen, Insperity
14. Potential
Assess for potential, not just the starting point but where they can reach—their motivation to impact and influence others, their pace of learning, ability to step outside their comfort zone, persistence in achieving goals, ability to build trust with others and their proactivity in creating and seizing opportunities. Identify if they can make the leap and then train them so they can take it. - Shiran Danoch, Informed Decisions
15. Solutions-Oriented
Do they simply report problems, or do they come prepared with potential solutions or ideas for improvement? Future leaders demonstrate a desire to fix issues rather than just highlight them. Do they take responsibility for their work—successes and failures? Leaders understand that the results of their actions directly impact the team and the organization. - Raunak Bhandari, Google Asia Pacific
16. Proactiveness
In a fast-growth environment such as a startup, identifying potential leaders involves observing those who proactively take on challenges, demonstrate a willingness to experiment, and exhibit a natural inclination toward problem-solving. Look for those who not only excel in their assigned roles but also show an eagerness to contribute beyond their job descriptions. - Alex Gillespie, Gillespie Manners
17. Taking Initiative, Ethical Leadership and Collaboration Efforts
To identify potential leaders early, observe traits such as taking the initiative, ethical leadership behaviors and promoting collaboration. Providing mentorship, open communication and leadership programs can help cultivate these skills. Establish a leadership framework and integrate succession planning to ensure sustained growth. - Reema Akhtar, Seer Solutions
18. Genuine Interest
Evaluate your team based on how they perform in their roles and see who stands out as someone who asks questions, is involved in other work activities (ERGs, mentoring, and so on) and takes an interest in the company. Also, ask people what their goals are and where they would like to be in the future. It is important to mentor and train those individuals so they will have success as a manager. - Erin ImHof, CertiK
19. Going Above And Beyond
Create a lattice program where stretch opportunities are offered across the organization. This not only breaks consensus bias in driving the best results but invests in employees who want to do more and excel by giving them projects outside the scope of their daily work. It serves as both a way to identify high potentials who volunteer for these projects and also serves to provide development. - Cat Colella-Graham
20. Welcoming And Supportive Of New Employees
Watch how your team interacts with new team members. Often those who are interested in pursuing people leadership are the first to take the new person under their wing and offer mentorship. Another indicator (but not guarantee) is those who are eager to take on work in the "uncharted territory" of your business. Key to note that there is a difference between "eager" and "willing." - Corey Berkey, Garnet Bridge Consulting
