One of the most painful mistakes of leadership is choosing the wrong leaders. The difference between success and failure begins with choosing the right leaders. (And ejecting the wrong.)

It’s foolish to define leadership as getting things done. The focus of leadership is people. You earn leadership opportunities by getting things done. You become a leader when you get things done through others. When someone steps into leadership they leverage the talent of others:

  1. How do they make people feel?
  2. How do they maximize the skills and talents of others?
  3. How are they instilling a sense of mission?
  4. How are they developing others?
  5. How are their values, not urgencies, guiding decisions?

10 Questions to Ask and Answer…

  1. What is their definition of leadership?
  2. How are they expressing curiosity?
  3. Where do they fall on the scale of optimistic vs. pessimistic?
  4. How are their values?
  5. How do they appreciate the impact of their behaviors on others?
  6. What makes you believe they can focus on “what” needs to be done without getting lost in “how” things get done?
  7. How are they able to see the world through the lens of others?
  8. How are they including others in decision-making?
  9. How do they respond to failure or correction?
  10. How do they respond to authority?

Bonus: Do they aspire to lead?

Exploring the answers to these questions, will provide you insight if you are choosing the right leader of people (and not a ‘boss’).

 

Excerpt from Leadership Freak – April 20, 2016