When assessing the potential of future leaders, we often forget about a fundamental question, which is: "How much do you love to lead people?" That is the opinion of Marshall Goldsmith - the world-renowned senior executive coach, speaker and author of popular books on personal development. In a recent article on his blog, Goldsmith confirms that all great leaders he has coached had one thing in common. It was the fact they loved to lead people. They were very enthusiastic leaders.
Alan Mulally, the former CEO of Boeing and Ford, who was awarded the third best leader in the world by Fortune magazine in 2014, may be an example. While many others would have given up, he persevered and managed to rebuild the success of declining Boeing and Ford. According to Marshall Goldsmith, his great advantage is his enormous enthusiasm and joy for working with people. Alan Mulally is very well aware that leadership is not about him, but about the people he works with. He sets an example by his behavior, not just with words.
So if you want to assess your leadership potential, use a scale of 1 to 10 to measure how much you love leading people. If you actually do not want to lead others to a common goal, you should consider another career. Although a leadership role may give you authority and money, it will take its toll. Being a leader is very difficult, especially on a personal level and is often a very thankless task. If you do not have the necessary inner enthusiasm for leading people, it will only be a misery for you.
-kk-