Does Your Direct Report Have Leadership Potential? 14 Signs They Do

Being an effective leader requires going beyond meeting deadlines and achieving goals. The best leaders understand they play a critical role in identifying and nurturing the next generation of leaders by developing and coaching them to be ready to take on increased responsibilities.

With the fierce competition for talent, organizations need to tap into their talent pool, and direct leaders are the linchpin. Yet, many leaders could use a brush-up on some of the early indications that identify leadership potential. So, if you’re wondering what you should be looking for, here are our 14 signs a direct report may be one of your future leaders.

14 Signs A Direct Report Has Leadership Potential

1. They do things that need to be done before you ask
2. They will try to figure something out before asking for your help
3. They naturally assume the role of the leader with their peers
4. They learn from their mistakes and see failure as an opportunity
5. They’re eager for coaching and mentoring
6. They’re not afraid of upward communication
7. They make decisions and follow through on them
8. They build positive working relationships
9. They’re self-aware and can self-manage
10. They’re strong communicators
11. They’re an intrapreneur
12. They help their peers
13. They’re accountable
14. They are great individual contributors

They do things that need to be done before you ask

A hallmark of leadership potential is the ability to understand the big picture, team goals, and what needs to be done to succeed. If you have a direct report that shows initiative and applies good judgment in deciding what needs action to drive the mission forward, you may have a future leader on your team.

They will try to figure something out before asking for your help

Individuals with leadership potential often possess learning agility - knowing how to learn and what to do when they don’t have an answer. As a result of their learning agility, you can spot these future leaders using their one-on-one meeting time to walk through the steps they took to create a solution to get your feedback. They will ask for input on what you would have done to learn and grow instead of using the time to ask what they should do.

They naturally assume the role of the leader with their peers

In situations where a team of peers is working together, if one of your direct reports naturally takes the role of the leader, there is a good sign they have leadership potential. You can identify these individuals by how they keep the team aligned, focused on the mission, and accountable for their tasks.

They learn from their mistakes and see failure as an opportunity

No one gets through their career without making mistakes or experiencing failure. However, those with leadership potential can often bounce back quickly from mistakes and turn them into learning opportunities where they evaluate what happened and what should change.

They’re eager for coaching and mentoring

Direct reports that seek your feedback and ask for mentoring opportunities could be potential future leaders. These coachable individuals know they don’t have all the answers, so they’re eager to learn from their leader. In doing so, they’re demonstrating humility and a growth mindset which are competencies needed to be a good leader.

They’re not afraid of upward communication

Sharing their opinions, communicating with superiors, and pitching their ideas come naturally to those with leadership potential. These individuals do not shy away from upward communication. In fact, they embrace the opportunity to share what they think with those above them in seniority.

They make decisions and follow through on them

Being decisive and putting those decisions into action by breaking them down into a series of tasks is a crucial leadership competency. If a direct report demonstrates this early in their career, they may have what it takes to be a future leader at your organization.

They build positive working relationships

Using social skills to build relationships and trust is vital to influential and inspiring leadership. Keep an eye out for direct reports with high emotional intelligence who can regulate their emotions, influence those around them, quickly resolve conflict, and build a group of advocates who genuinely enjoy working with them.

They’re self-aware and can self-manage

In partnership with the ability to build positive working relations, those with leadership potential tend to be self-aware of their behaviors, enabling them to self-manage their emotions, making them great at rallying the team through a stressful situation.

They’re strong communicators

It will be hard to have your ideas implemented or directions actioned without strong communication skills. With leaders spending upwards of 80% of their day communicating, the importance of leadership communication abilities cannot be overstated. Therefore, if a direct report is a good communicator today, they may have one of the critical skills needed to step up into a leadership position tomorrow. 

They’re an intrapreneur

An intrapreneur is an individual who behaves like an entrepreneur within a team or organization by uncovering new business opportunities and finding solutions to customer's pain points. Those with leadership potential are keen to drive the business to evolve, don’t shy away from change, and are tolerant of ambiguity as they wrestle with new ideas.

They help their peers

Direct reports who are the go-to for their peers and who lend a helping hand when someone is struggling, not for the recognition but as a genuine desire to see their colleague succeed, may have what it takes to be a leader. The foundation of a great leader is the ability to encourage and recognize others, a willingness to help, and show empathy to someone facing a challenge. 

They’re accountable

Accountability in the workplace, which is the acceptance of personal actions that contributed to achieving or falling short of a goal, is undeniable skill leaders need. Leaders must be able to lead by example when it comes to accountability, so if a direct report takes ownership of their results now, they will likely continue to in the future, making them prime for promotion to leadership.

They are great individual contributors

Your future leaders are likely great individual contributors today. A 2015 study uncovered that having a leader with the technical knowledge and “ability to get the job done” has the most significant positive influence on the job satisfaction of their direct reports.

Moreover, Steve Jobs agrees with this assessment that great individual contributors are your best source of future leaders, even the ones who may not have the desire to lead. He said, “You know who the best managers are? They're the great individual contributors who never, ever want to be a manager, but decide they want to be a manager, because no one else is going to be able to do as good a job as them.”