Don’t overlook your hidden leaders; it’s like finding quarters in a bucket of pennies.
By Lorraine Grubbs
The other day while cleaning, I came across my “penny” jar and it was full. I took it to one of those machines at the store that converts it to dollars. As I prepared to pour the change into the machine, I noticed a lot of quarters hiding among the pennies. I covet quarters to use as gifts for my grandson, and it takes a lot to keep a 3 year old happy. I was delighted to find over 50 quarters among my pennies.
As I found quarter after quarter, I began to think about leadership. As a former executive and now author and consultant on leadership, it was a natural transition. I thought, “If you look at your team, how many potential leaders are hidden from view, just like the quarters hiding among the pennies? How do you find them?” Leadership guru Marshall Goldsmith says, “How you do anything is how you do everything”. Your high potentials are already doing what they do best. They are leading without the benefit of a title. Your job is to find them, develop them and then promote them to position your company to be able to face the future.
Here are five tips for finding your high potential leaders (quarters) in your next meeting (penny jar).
What are they saying? Instead of handing out the usual leadership survey questions, why not do something different? At your next meeting, ask your team members to write down the names of everyone on the team and then describe them in five words. You will be amazed at how many similarities there will be for your “hidden” leaders. Words like “takes charge, takes initiative, listens well, coaches, mentors, teaches, is creative…” are indicative of leadership behavior. And, because you’ve asked the whole team instead of just one individual, you’ll get a more objective bigger picture. This technique will help you identify your quarters among the pennies.
Who’s reading? In your next meeting, hand out index cards and ask each person to write their name across the top. Then tell them to write down the names of the last three books they’ve read this year. Good leaders read. It’s a great way to learn. In this way you can identify your “hidden” readers. Offer to start a business reading group to continue the learning.
Who’s sharing? There’s a saying, “You cannot NOT do what you do best”. Natural leaders share. They mentor, they teach, they coach. When I was working for Southwest Airlines, several coworkers kept approaching me for leadership advice and asked me to start mentoring them. Rather than work with them on a one-on-one basis, I created a monthly roundtable leadership discussion group. No one prompted me to do it. I was demonstrating that I could not NOT do what I do best...teach.
Who’s being creative? Encourage and celebrate creativity. Today’s competitive environment demands innovation to stay ahead of the competition. You want to find out who on your teams are the movers and shakers. Who comes up with creative solutions and then makes them happen? Start a suggestion box and see who contributes. Make sure you follow up with those that do so they will keep it up. This is a great way to identify those hidden “quarters” that will keep your company thinking creatively.
Who cares? Today’s leaders care about people. People are one of your biggest competitive advantages and leaders who understand how to motivate the troops through nurturing environments will get more productivity out of their employees. Here’s how you can find out which team members are demonstrating that caring attitude. Promote a contest of “best recognition techniques” within your workforce. In this way you can identify the people who are naturally recognizing and praising without following a company-dictated program.
Start searching for these hidden high potentials. Be the company that searches within its own employees to find tomorrow’s leaders. And, once you find them, invest in their development. You will be preparing your company to face the future with a strong leadership team.