Photo courtesy of Flickr
By Daniel Bailey
Recruiting new people to lead your team is a challenging process for any business owner. The key is to look beyond a person’s resume and find out more about personality traits and character. Some individuals have a natural ability to lead, and it’s essential to find out if your candidate is the right person for the management position. If you pick the wrong applicant, your team’s morale could suffer and your business could lose. Here are 6 traits you should be on the lookout for when interviewing potential candidates for leadership positions.
1. Communication
To start with, a great leader should be able to communicate effectively. Miscommunication is one of the top factors leading to problems at work. Ideally, you want to find someone who can communicate well to groups, speak effectively when talking one-on-one with team members, and write well when emailing or preparing documents. There are a variety of ways to evaluate an applicant’s communication skills during the hiring process. First, review the resume and cover letter and make sure there are no grammatical or spelling errors. During the interview, pay close attention to how the applicant speaks and answers questions.
2. Intuition
An effective leader should also have great intuition. Intuition gives someone more insight into the industry and helps them make smart decisions for the line of work. The best way to judge a candidate’s intuition is to check out the resume and look for examples of successful decision making. Additionally, ask about past decisions and results from the candidate’s judgment to get a greater sense of intuition during the interview.
3. Optimism
Another trait that leads to success in a leadership position is the ability to maintain a sense of optimism. Team members often look to their leader during stressful times at work and want to be encouraged with a positive attitude and outlook for the future. If the leader conveys a negative vibe, that attitude can be contagious and bring everyone down. During the interview process and your interactions with each candidate, look for signs of optimism, such as gratitude, an upbeat attitude, and confidence.
4. Organization
Being organized is another great trait that can help propel a team to success. Strong leaders have a clear organizational system and are able to prioritize tasks and get the job done. Before you make a job offer to someone, be sure that the candidate demonstrates this essential job skill. Look through the resume and be prepared to ask open-ended questions about previous projects during the interview.
5. Delegation
Lots of highly-effective and confident workers fail as leaders due to the lack of another essential skill, the ability to delegate. Make sure any potential manager is able to delegate jobs to the team. Successful leaders, such as Ashley Furniture CEO Eugene Chrinian, have found success because they’ve recognized it’s impossible to do everything yourself. Effective managers must surround themselves with capable workers and give out responsibility accordingly.
6. Dedication
Finally, don’t forget to make sure anyone you hire for a leadership position shows extreme dedication to your industry and company. Your team of leaders must be committed to your company’s mission statement and business plan. They must be able to go above and beyond, and you have to feel confident in their work and focus. During your interview, you should look for that strong passion for the industry and ask questions to help unlock potential management candidates’ stories about putting everything into a project.
Finding a great leader to join you in your organization can be a long and daunting process. Stay focused on the end goal and don’t accept anything less than excellent. If you stress these effective leadership traits, you should be able to find the perfect job candidate.