How to Find Leaders When Everyone Says They're a Leader

Because most job candidates prepare answers for common interview questions before an interview, interviewers who don't know how to spot the qualities of a leader can find it hard to determine which applicants truly have leadership skills. If you choose applicants who lack good leadership skills, your new employees may need classes in leadership skills development to reach their full potential. Fortunately, the qualities of a leader come naturally to people who possess leadership skills, so as long as you know what to look for, your company can avoid spending money unnecessarily on leadership skills development training.

According to a recent article on Forbes.com, one of the most necessary qualities of a leader is self-awareness. People who have a high notion of self-awareness have a realistic assessment of their own abilities; they know their strengths and weaknesses and don't have problems acknowledging that people on their team may have better ideas than they do. People with high self-awareness also tend to communicate better because they recognize the difference between authoritative actions and actions that are demoralizing. Unfortunately, self-awareness isn't an easy quality to assess during a short interview. However, you if you ask your interviewees questions like, "What are your weaknesses?" you can get a general idea of how self-aware they are.

Fortunately, it's not always difficult to spot the qualities of a leader in a job applicant. For example, people who are natural leaders tend to take care of themselves. When people are well groomed, it's a sign that they have respect for themselves and are confident in their actions. So you can complete a quick assessment just by looking at how a person is dressed. Of course, you can't determine someone's leadership skills by clothing alone—personality and other qualities are also important.

When you're trying to spot the qualities of a leader in the people that you're interviewing, you need to choose questions that will catch them off-guard. For example, good leaders are creative and have a good sense of humor, so try asking an off-the-wall question to see how job applicants react. If you ask a question like, "Can you tell me ten things you can do with a pencil besides write?" you'll find out if the job applicant has a good sense of humor and how creative he or she is.

The qualities of a leader aren't always easy to spot during an interview. However, by asking unique questions and watching the reactions and body language as your interviewees respond, you can get a good sense of the person behind the resume and better identify candidates' leadership ability during the hiring process.

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