How to Uncover Leadership Potential

The concepts of management and leadership are not interchangeable. A good leader is not necessarily a good manager - nor is every manager a natural leader. While a flair for leadership is primarily a personality trait, management strengths tend to be founded on acquired skills and technical know-how. Being aware of these differences is essential when it comes to evaluating the leadership potential of your candidates.

Knowing how to devise strategies, identify priorities and implement procedures and action-plans all indicate that someone is a good manager - but not necessarily a good leader. Leadership is a measurement of someone's ability to motivate a group towards a common goal without wielding unnecessary pressure, to encourage, and to inspire enthusiasm. A recent study carried out at Central Test highlights the three personality traits most closely associated with good leaders: optimism, the need to surpass oneself, and the capacity to look to the future. Such qualities are difficult to gauge without a skilful combination of evaluation techniques.

It all starts with the CV

Because it outlines work experience, lists positions of responsibility, and records extra-curricular activities, a CV can provide an invaluable insight into a candidate's leadership qualities. But you shouldn't ever limit your scrutiny of candidates to an analysis of their CVs. Some applicants have a tendency to overstate their experience in order to make their applications seem more attractive - and tests serve to support and elucidate what the CV proclaims.

Not one test, but several

Having recourse to personality testing is indispensable when you need to evaluate leadership potential. Depending on the candidate, you can either use a general personality profiler or opt for a test specifically compiled for managers. To take the level of analysis one step further, it is always revealing to combine a personality test with an emotional intelligence test. This allows you to uncover candidates' attitudes - and so reveal traits such as assertiveness, self-motivation and optimism.

Use scenarios to take the interpretation further

Once you have been sent a candidate's test results, your next step is to interpret the findings of the report. And it is here that interviews and simulated scenarios become vital in helping you to identify leadership potential in very concrete terms. Group scenarios are particularly useful as they allow you to observe how candidates interact with each other. In any group scenario, the leader you seek will be the candidate who knows how to bring about a consensual solution, without forcing other members or imposing their character in any way.