Are you ready to step up as a Leader? Have you recently been promoted into a leadership position and wondering what it takes to lead? Leadership is all about influence. Whilst many people lead based on hierarchy, the great leaders understand that it is their ability to influence others that will make the difference and separate them from their competition.
If you are new to leadership or if you are contemplating moving into a leadership role, take this simple test to understand whether you are ready for the responsibility and the opportunity to lead. Simply answer yes or no to the following questions:
1. Do you believe an empowering team culture or environment is critical to success?
2. Are you prepared to become invisible and shine the light on your people?
3. Do you believe in building and maintaining strong and accountable relationships?
4. Are you prepared to take 100% responsibility for your team’s performance?
5. Are you committed to setting the example for your team through modelling of excellence?
6. Are you comfortable with uncertainty?
7. Do you possess a high level of Emotional Intelligence?
– Are you self aware?
– Do you have high levels of empathy?
– Do you possess social expertness?
– Do you have a high level of personal influence?
– Do you have mastery of vision?
8. Do you have a high risk tolerance? Are you prepared to take calculated risks knowing that mistakes could be made?
9. Are you prepared to be criticised and judged?
10. Are you committed to setting & implementing high standards of performance for your team and yourself?
11. Do you seek opportunities to serve others first? Are you genuinely interested in others?
12. Are you prepared to lead the team into unchartered waters, not knowing what the outcome will be?
13. Are you willing & able to have ‘difficult & robust’ conversations with your direct reports and key stakeholders?
14. Are you able to make firm decisions, quickly?
15. Do you have strong people skills?
16. Do you have the courage to lead the people and not the numbers?
17. Are you prepared and willing to receive feedback?
How did you go? Count up the number of times you answered yes
(1-6 ‘Yes’) You are not yet ready to step up as a Leader. Find a leader & learn as much s you can from them.
(7-12 ‘Yes’) You certainly have leadership potential and show some strong leadership qualities. Focus in on the ‘no’ responses & identify where you could improve and how you could turn them into a yes.
(13-17 ‘Yes’) You are ready to lead!! You have all of the foundations in place – now it is time to take action and step up as a Leader!!
Whilst the 17 questions above are by no means an exhaustive list of questions you could ask yourself around leadership, they do provide a reasonable indication of your readiness to step up as a leader. Remember, leadership is all about influence, and with leadership, comes tremendous responsibility that should not be taken lightly. If you find yourself in a position where you have answered ‘yes’ to less than 12 questions, do not despair – it is merely an indication of where you currently sit, and where you currently focus. This focus can be changed and you can quickly separate yourself from the crowd, and develop into a leader – if you are prepared to accept the challenge of identifying your gaps and progressively filling them. Before long – you will be stepping up as a Leader. Embrace the challenge!
To your leadership success!!
Darren
Are you seeking to increase your influence? Click this link to download a FREE copy of my eBook “Lead With Influence – The 7 Strategic Keys to Unleash Your Sales Leadership Potential”.
Thank you for taking the time to read this post – I greatly appreciate it, and welcome comments and feedback. Please feel free to comment below, to follow me on LinkedIn, or to connect via Twitter or Facebook.
Darren is an Executive Coach, Leadership Consultant, Trainer, Facilitator, Speaker. He is an experienced and committed coach with a background of sales leadership success in large organisations. He applies a genuine focus to coaching and developing high performing sales leaders who are looking to unleash the potential of themselves and their teams.
