What’s your process for selecting leaders?
I am interested in hearing how you select leaders in your organization and whether it is working.
I have worked for large fortune 500, medium and small-sized companies. My experience has been that leaders are often selected based on their technical skills more than their ability to lead people.
Because someone is a really good customer service representative for example, they are selected to be the new supervisor. Or because someone is the best processor they have on the team, they are selected to manage the processing team.
This seems a bit backwards to me. Would you buy a house just because it is painted in a color you really like? Of course not; price, square footage, location, number of bedrooms and many other considerations go into buying a house.
Selecting the right leader requires many considerations as well. They include the person’s ability to build trust, ability to motivate others, level of emotional intelligence, strong communication and listening skills and so many more. But yet, how many organizations really take the time to figure this out?
When organization take this approach to selecting leaders they get managers, not leaders. There is a distinct difference.
Instead of selecting a leader who inspires, they select someone who demands. Instead of selecting a leader who cares about people, they select someone who only cares about numbers. Instead of selecting a leader who creates vision, they select someone who is focused on today.
The decisions to hire or promote a new leader is an important one. Studies have consistently shown that the number one reason people leave companies or lack motivation is due to poor leadership.
Again, I am interested in learning how your organization selects leaders. Do you have a process identifying them? What types of things do you look for? Do you even agree it’s that important?
We would love to hear your opinion below. Thanks.
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